


Into the Wild

by BWolf_20



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Animal Abuse, Animal Attack, Animal Death, Animal Transformation, Cat Tony Stark, Cat/Human Hybrids, Feral Tony Stark, Fictional Medical Procedure, Gen, Horror story!, Human Experimentation, Human Hybrids sold as Pets, Hurt Tony Stark, Illegal Activities, Kidnapping, Medical Torture, Memory Loss, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Not a lighthearted fic, Permanent Transformation, Prompt Fic, Suffering, Threat of euthanizing, Tragic Tony Aftermath, identity crisis, no real happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-03-04 03:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 46,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13355853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BWolf_20/pseuds/BWolf_20
Summary: A new business rival is rising to power and he's catching everyone's attention, particularly Tony who couldn't be more irritated about it. When he suspects espionage on SI and other malicious activities, Tony decides to put his suspicions to rest by infiltrating an event hosted by said rival. His solo investigation leads him to discover human hybrids that are set to be auctioned off. Before Tony can save them or alert back-up, he's caught and forced into the long and torturous process of being transformed into a human/animal hybrid himself, destined to become someone's new pet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for a prompt that called for a dark Tony transformation fic. I'd give the link to the prompt but I don't want to spoil you ;)  
> I went back and forth on whether or not to post this fic, but I do enjoy Tony transformations so I'm letting it happen.  
> Past events are typed in **bold**

Tony blinked a few times before slowly opening his eyes to see that everything seemed blurry. He lifted his head from its hanging position and noticed bars of light that appeared to be waving around before his eyes and moving backwards. There was a gentle vibrating feeling and the sound of muffled squeaking. 

As his vision became clearer he came to realize he was sitting in a wheelchair that was being pushed down a plain white hallway. Despite knowing this much, everything was still muddled in his mind. 

When he tried to move, the restraints on his wrists kept him in place. He felt numb and disconnected from himself. He couldn’t think clearly enough to figure out what was happening, so he just shut his eyes. He was tired anyways and made a soft moaning sound to complain about it. Voices greeted him in response.

“Seems Mr. Stark is awakening.”

“It’s fine. He’s strapped in place and the drug will keep him still.”

Tony opened his eyes tiredly. He tried to move his mouth to ask what was happening. The only thing his mind was able to assume was that he was in a hospital.

“What animal are they choosing?” one of the voices continued.

“Don’t know, but Whitmore says it’ll fit Stark perfectly.”

Whitmore? The name seemed to click in his head.

He shut his eyes as the fog started to lift from his brain. Something was telling him he had to remember so he could figure out what was happening.

 

**The first thing he noticed, was how glittery everything seemed; ribbons of gold streaming across the ceiling, a sparkling chandelier, shimmering white table cloths that shimmered more with all the crystal glasses upon it. It was all very ritzy, which was something he wasn’t surprised to see done for the Golden Rod Society.**

****

**Tony didn’t know much about it. All he’d heard was that it was made up of ritzy people with exotic tastes and that it was very difficult to get in. One had to be lucky enough to receive an invite, but he had never been so lucky so they could certainly kiss his ass.**

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**Well Tony had managed to get in anyways by pulling a few strings and expressing a false interest in joining. The reason for it was one thing, or rather one person, Wendell Whitmore.**

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**Tony took a sip of the champagne as he stationed himself near the bar, looking around at the people mingling among one another. His eyes fell to the stage upfront and he tapped his fingers against the table in annoyance.**

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**“Come on out you son of a bitch,” he muttered.**

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**“Are you enjoying yourself Mr. Stark?”**

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**Tony turned to the bartender with a classic smile.**

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**“Can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun.” He turned back to the stage, then back to the bartender again. “Say, when’s the host making his appearance? I might not be able to stick around for all the fun tonight.”**

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****“Should be soon, and you won’t want to miss the highlight of this event.”** **

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**Tony just smiled and turned back to the stage. He had a good feeling about this. He was finally going to expose Whitmore for the criminal he was bound to be.**

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Tony lifted his head and noticed some double doors. One of the orderlies who had been walking alongside him walked over and held in a button on an intercom.

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“Number one, three, three, seven, five, zero, one requesting entry.”

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The doors buzzed open followed by a voice that said “Proceed”.

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Tony was wheeled forward into what turned out to be an elevator. He moaned softly and blinked several times to better clear his head. He cursed whatever drug was keeping him dim and numb. Then one of the orderlies hit a number and soon the elevator was in motion. 

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“What do you think the world will do without him?” one asked.

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“The world will be fine without him. Don’t they have the rest of them Avengers?”

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“Yeah, besides, this’ll be Whitmore’s chance to really rise past Stark Industries.”

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Tony felt a hand rub his shoulder as the orderly addressed him.

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“You made it easy on Whitmore. Killing two birds with one stone.”

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Tony raised his head to see the orderly standing by his side swirling in and out of sight.

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“You deserve this afterall. Nearly fucked up a good thing. I heard what he’s done will cost thousands.”

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“Well Mr. Stark will happily pay it back, won’t you?”

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With heavy lids, Tony shut his eyes and moaned in a way that almost sounded like he agreed.

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When the doors clicked open, a new voice roused Tony to open his eyes. Standing before him was a portly bald man with a graying mustache. He wore a fine suit and had a big smile plastered across his face.

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“Well Mr. Stark, we meet again.”

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Tony tried to speak but his mouth still wasn’t working properly. He looked at the man as more of the fog cleared.

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**The same portly man walked out on stage with his arms wide open as he took in the applauding crowd.**

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**“Thank you, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to host this spectacular event. The Golden Rod has always been…”**

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**Tony turned a deaf ear to the rest of the man’s speech. Wendell Whitmore had quickly become a rising pain in his side. He was a man with an industry developing technically advanced products that many were getting excited about. In fact, there was talk of Whitmore being the new SI and it angered Tony to no end. His anger only increased when footage surfaced of the man’s own version of A.I controlled Iron man suits. Tony had no doubt that the man had somehow managed to infiltrate his systems in order to create such successful prototypes.**

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**Then some heavier investigating resulted in two of his own workers as being secret associates to Whitmore.**

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**Tony made sure to keep an eye on the man who was said to have made secret deals in the black-market and was somehow involved in the poaching of exotic animals. A few tv interviews and tours of his estate did show that he had his own animal sanctuary housing mainly rare species. He claimed to be quite the animal activist doing his part to ensure their protection.**

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**Others had investigated Whitmore, but the man was apparently clean. So all the shady talk was chalked up to be rumors from bitter men.**

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**Tony hadn’t bought it. Something was going on, and what had pushed him to do a private investigation was a sudden rise in missing people. What caused Tony to link it to Whitmore was the fact that two of his workers had been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a young woman, but the charges were dropped and they’d been released.**

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**Tony had shared his concerns about Whitmore with the rest of the team, but they wrote it off as him being envious of the Whitmore craze. Besides that, it didn’t involve aliens or any form of supernatural phenomenon that would require their skills.**

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**“So please, enjoy yourselves and we will get started soon enough.”**

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**They clapped as he exited the stage. Tony narrowed his eyes as he followed him going from person to person shaking their hands. It wasn’t long before Whitmore raised his eyes and caught Tony watching him. Tony put on a false smile and lifted his glass as though he were toasting him.**

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**Still smiling, Whitmore walked over to him with an extended hand.**

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**“Mr. Stark, what a pleasant surprise.”**

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**“I certainly like to think so,” Tony said as he shook his hand.**

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	2. Chapter 2

**“Yes, well, Golden Rod finally wised up and sent you an invite hmm?”**

**“When I expressed my interest they couldn’t say no. I mean I can’t think of a better publicity move than to have Iron man present.”**

**Whitmore laughed.**

**“I’m afraid no one will know. No paparazzi to capture this event. It’s just the way they like it. They’re a quiet society with very high taste. Perhaps it’s out of your league.”**

**Tony just kept up the false smile.**

**“Well I am just browsing. Nothing’s official yet.”**

**“Are you enjoying yourself?”**

**“I have been, for the most part. But I am a busy man so I’m afraid I won’t be able to hang around for very long.”**

**“Probably best,” Whitmore said with a nod. “I’m sure you have your work cut out for you, trying to save Stark Industries. And despite being a genius, this event might be too difficult for you to comprehend.”**

**Tony wanted to punch that smug expression right off his face, but he kept up his smiling façade.**

**“Stark Industries doesn’t need saving, and if I were you I’d be pissing my pants.”**

**“Really?”**

**“Yes really. Besides I heard you were doing okay in the iron man suits department. I’m guessing that means we’ll see those tin cans flying off to save the world, provided they don’t rust first.”**

**“Well it’s not like the military is without the need of soldiers, but to be honest my interests has never been in super-heroing. I’m solely interested in the joys and comforts of my guests. If there’s anyone I’m interested in saving, it’s our poor four legged friends. I swear, not enough people take an interest in them, but thankfully Golden Rod does.”**

**“Right.” Tony took a sip of his champagne having nothing really to add to that. He’d never had much of an involvement with animals.**

**“Well, I’ll leave you to enjoy the time you have left.” Whitmore clapped him on the shoulder before departing to mingle with others.**

**“Why don’t you enjoy what time you have left, asshole,” Tony muttered as he set the glass down and walked away.**

 

Tony was wheeled forward into what he made out to be as an enormous lab. Things were still blurry and foggy, but he was able to take notice of all the computers and machinery, tables with various equipment and chemicals, cables running here and there, and metal examination tables complete with restraints. Maneuvering around the lab were several lab techs in white coats.

“Wha…what the…” he mumbled.

“It’s quite impressive, isn’t it,” Whitmore began. “They do marvelous work here, just marvelous. And soon, you’ll become part of it in a way that’s quite life changing for you, and profitable for me.”

Tony shook his head and looked at the man who was coming into focus better. Then a young eager looking lab tech wandered up and peered at him.

“I can’t believe my first time will be working on Mr. Stark.”

“I have faith that you’ll do well. Allow me to introduce you. Stark, this is Gina, our newest member.”

Tony shifted his eyes to the woman. She had short red hair and appeared young enough to be in college. 

“You know I always wanted to get in with SI, but I didn’t get any callbacks. Not even an internship opportunity,” Gina explained sounding quite disappointed.

“Don’t take offense. Sometimes Stark can’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of him. But on the one hand, it is a good thing you didn’t get it. It’s much more beneficial being a part of the Whitmore family,” he said while giving her a half hug that made her beam with pride. He turned back to Tony who was giving him a perplexed look. “Oh don’t worry. She’s quite experienced and has had enough practice in the integration process.”

“In…integration?” Tony managed as he became more aware of the situation he was in. “The hell…are you…talking about?”

“Why Mr. Stark, surely you remember coming across my temporary pets?” 

It didn’t take much for the memory to surface.

 

**He had left the party, allowing the guards to believe he’d left for the evening when in reality he managed to sneak behind the scenes. He had kept in contact with JARVIS on his phone to keep tabs on any cameras as well as keep the cameras off of him.**

**With such assistance, it had been fairly easy to slip through sealed doors and stay ahead of patrolling guards. Tony was all smiles when he’d made it into an office space.**

**He marched over to the computer intent on finding any hidden files. He got to work hacking into his network while happily whistling a little tune.**

**As some point, his hand rested on a section of the desk that gave way and revealed a button.**

**“Hello,” Tony greeted. “So tempting to push it, so why don’t I just…”**

**He pushed the button, and a bookcase behind him slid aside to reveal a hidden opening.**

**“Tell me that leads to a strip joint.”**

**Cautiously he entered and made his way down a semi lit hall. Halfway down he witnessed the bookcase sliding back into place.**

**“Yep, didn’t see that coming,” he remarked as he continued onward.**

**Soon he reached a small elevator with an option to go down. Tony entered and rode it down as his confidence rose. He pictured coming across illegal drugs, or tons of stolen merchandise, or powerful weapons involving some alien tech.**

**The last thing he ever expected, was to see what looked like a zoo.**

**He stepped out of the elevator wide-eyed as he took in rows of giant cages. But in those cages, weren’t exactly animals as far as he could tell. In one cage he saw what looked like the figure of a furry man that appeared to have the shape and look of a panda. Another he deemed to house what he’d definitely label as a werewolf as the creature growled at him and made howling noises.**

**As Tony moved further, he came across oddly shaped bird like creatures that appeared to be cranes and peacocks, all as tall as a person. Further along in the center was a giant tank where mermaids appeared to swim around, waving their webbed hands at him and showing off brightly colored tails.**

**A centaur ran up to a fence startling the hell out of him. But the centaur couldn’t get to him as his legs were chained down. In a corner, two faun like beings were playfully butting their antlered heads.**

**“What the hell is this?”**

**His confidence dropped to fear.**

**“Why do I get the feeling that, these are people?” he asked as his eyes jumped from a very humanoid looking cat to a creepy lizard man who was creeping along the ceiling of his cage. Tony took his phone and began to record. “What the fuck are you doing Whitmore?”**

**“Sir,” Jarvis interrupted. “I believe there is something occurring on stage that you should see.”**

**“I think I’m already seeing what I should see.” But Tony turned his attention to the live stream Jarvis provided of the event.**

**Whitmore was on stage taking in an applauding crowd as two men rolled out a cage. Circling within the cage appeared to be a fox like woman with huge bat like ears, crouched on all fours with golden fur covering her from head to toe.**

**“A fine creature, a fine creature indeed,” Whitmore was saying. “A breed of the ever popular fennec fox. Quite adorable, quite friendly. What will I have for a starting bid?”**

**It had turned into an auction with the guests now raising paddles, looking eager to acquire such an animal and it turned Tony’s stomach.**

**“Don’t these people know, he’s selling people?”**

**“I think you’ve discovered why little is known about the Golden Rod society,” Jarvis answered.**

**Tony looked back at the fox woman who was curiously looking at the bidding crowd. He had to admit she wasn’t exactly an abomination upon first look. Her combination with a fennec fox did make her quite cute, but it didn’t matter. It was still an abominable act. He swallowed hard as Whitmore cried sold to a couple that seemed quite thrilled to have achieved their new pet. Everyone else applauded for them while looking sulky.**

**“So this is what happened to those missing people. This is why Whitmore’s so interested in animals. But how…and why this? What kind of a fucked up mind thinks of this?” His eyes fell to a man that appeared to have been combined with a St. Bernard who pawed at the bars of his cage and whined softly. “I gotta get them out of here.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony's discovered Whitmore's big secret, and it's not pretty.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony recalls how his plan failed.

**“Sir, perhaps it would be wiser to alert the team. Releasing the hybrids could be quite dangerous.”**

**“No, I’m not waiting or risking it. I’ll get as many as I can out, then go from there. For now, standby for House party protocol.”**

**“Will do sir.”**

**Tony decided it might be less risky if he opened the cage with the St. Bernard hybrid. Dogs were usually friendly right?**

**“Easy boy,” Tony said softly as he initiated the Iron man gauntlet out of his watch. With careful aim, he fired at the lock, breaking it. He swung open the door and stepped aside. The dog hybrid was hesitant at first, but then he slowly crept out of the cage, then sat off to the side watching him. “Just sit tight while I get more of your buddies.”**

**Tony went for releasing any tame looking hybrids including the bird hybrids, another fox hybrid, and one he was sure was a chinchilla.**

**“The world won’t love you once they hear about this,” he stated as he prepared to open the cage of a rabbit hybrid.**

**“That’s why the world won’t hear about this.”**

**Tony paled and wheeled around at the sight of several guards and Whitmore himself. Apparently they had entered through a second entrance into the room. Tony held his hand on them, ready to blast him.**

**“Jarvis what the hell?” he cried while glancing at his phone, but it seemed to have lost all power.**

**“As sophisticated as your A.I is, it cannot compete with my own jamming systems.”**

**“Oh good, then it’ll alert Jarvis to send back up.”**

**But Whitmore just continued to smile.**

**“I have an entire team of skilled hackers observing every signal in and out of this place. Though they didn’t catch wind of your illegal break-in into my office, they did manage to prevent your A.I from sending word. As of right now, I’m sure your impressive A.I will have no memory of interacting with you thus far.”**

**He laughed and a few of the guards laughed as well.**

**“Then I guess there’s only one thing left to do.”**

**He fired at one of the guards then ducked out of sight behind a row of cages.**

**“Capture him, but capture him alive!” he heard Whitmore shout. “And get these creatures back in their cages!”**

**Tony found himself in a situation he wished he had better prepared for, then again he hadn’t expected to find anything as wild as human animal hybrids. Nonetheless he used his one weapon to fire off beams, injuring some and catching others off guard. Luckily the few hybrids he’d freed were creating a distraction for half of the guards, and with that in mind, he made it his mission to blast open as many cages as possible while evading capture. Tony just hoped they wouldn’t get hurt on his account, but the sudden rise of freed hybrids just made it more chaotic. Whitmore was screaming with rage.**

**“Stop that bastard!”**

**“We’ll have to shoot,” said a guard.**

**“I want him alive damn you!”**

**Tony just kept at his technique of using the rows of cages as cover. At some point while dodging and firing off shots, he’d hit something that issued a loud mechanical sound and made Whitmore panic.**

**“He’s struck the panel! Get the door closed!”**

**The next thing they all knew, the freed hybrids were making their way out whatever opening Tony had accidentally opened.**

**“No! No! Get them!”**

**After knocking aside a guard that had attempted to grab him from behind, Tony peeked from his current hiding spot to see the St. Bernard hybrid knocking over a guard and making its escape behind the others. One of the bird hybrids and the chinchilla hadn’t been lucky enough to escape before two guards shot them with tranquilizers.**

**“Damn it,” he muttered. At least the others had made it out.**

**“Stark!”**

**Tony moved and had just turned a corner when a guard suddenly stepped out in front of him and immediately pulled the trigger of his gun. Tony stumbled back from the sudden pain of the dart striking him in the chest.**

**“Got him boss.”**

**Tony wavered on the spot like a heavy drunk and attempted to raise his hand, but he was subdued from behind and brought to his knees. Everything was starting to move slowly and become blurry, but he was able to make out Whitmore coming into view.**

**“Are you sure you don’t want him killed boss? This is your chance.”**

**Whitmore observed him thoughtfully for a moment as Tony stared back at him, too tired to speak. All he could do was mentally curse himself as well as Whitmore.**

**“No. It would be quite a waste, even if the little pain in the ass deserves it. No no. I’d prefer to have him make up for the loss of merchandise. Pay for ruining such an expensive event that has to be postponed. Get him back to base.”**

**Tony watched the angered man turn away as he felt someone removing the glove from his hand. Afterwards, everything settled into darkness. The last thing echoing in his ears were the various sounds of the hybrids crying out. He was certain he heard one of them cry “Help…me” unless his ears were playing tricks on him.**

 

“I don’t believe this,” Tony muttered as he raised his head back. The fog had cleared, and everything he had seen up to getting captured weighed heavily upon him.

“I don’t see why not,” Whitmore started. “You saw with your own eyes.

Tony brought his head forward. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so sick and disturbed, but he wasn’t going to let Whitmore notice. He put up his best glare and an expression of a man who wasn’t scared. 

“So what, I’m here to become one of those, hybrids?” he asked with disgust.

“Would you rather be killed?”

He was sure it was better than being turned into some half animal abomination, but he wasn’t about to tell Whitmore that.

“I did say I wanted you to make up for lost merchandise. Thanks to your little stunt, I lost four precious pets that have yet to be found. Pets that have lost me over a thousand.”

“I can see how that would piss you off, so how bout I just write a check. Save you some trouble there. I’ll pay for damages to the cages, injuries on the guards, and we’ll part ways.”

But Whitmore was shaking his head as he continued to smile.

“Oh No, no, no, no I can’t possibly just allow you to leave after what you witnessed. I do have a right to my privacy. Can’t have you running off to blab to your superhero friends or the media. Besides that, I’m more interested in having actual pet replacements. Gathering subjects can be tricky, but considering you are the famous Tony Stark I’m bound to fetch a price for you that should cover the loss of four.”

Tony pulled against the restraints. 

“Don’t bother. You’re without a weapon even if you did escape.”

He growled in frustration and dropped his head. The only thing he could do was hope that Whitmore was wrong about interfering with Jarvis and that the A.I would send help soon.

“You’re more of a maniac than I would’ve ever thought possible.”

“Is that jealousy talking? I’m making quite the fortune on this business.”

“You’re sick,” Tony stated coldly.

“It is not sick to provide people with companions to enjoy. I imagine it’s harder for you to understand being that you’ve never had any pets, nor have you been around any animals. I love animals myself. I’ve always had a nice companion growing up.” Whitmore had started to pace, but then he came to a stop and looked thoughtful. “They were nice and all, but I always desired something unique. I wanted animals I couldn’t have, so I looked into ways to make that happen. That was a side hobby that much of the world of course doesn’t know about. After I made my way with Whitmore Industries, I managed to find the right people and the right supplies to make it possible for others.”

Tony’s expression of disgust and hatred never left his face.

“Yeah, cause kidnaping people and transforming them is so much better than selling regular cats and dogs.”

“I assure you they’re well taken care of, and they’re much better off with their new lives than the lives they were currently living. As hybrids, they’ll find homes, love, and freedom from the demands of the real world. They really are quite lucky. You’ll see.”

Whitmore snapped his fingers and a lab tech came over with a needle. Tony tensed and started pulling against the restraints again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets prepared.

“No, no don’t!”

“It’s simply to help you relax as we prepare,” Whitmore explained as the lab tech swabbed a spot on his skin with a cotton ball and inserted the needle.

“No!”

It was hopeless. The drug was making its way in regardless of how Tony felt about it. The tech stood back and smiled.

“Just relax Mr. Stark. You’re in good hands.”

Tony watched as her image started to sway before his eyes. He was suddenly feeling quite tired and his eyes were drooping. 

“Don’t…don’t do this,” he muttered as he went slack against the chair. Fear gripped at his brain while his body was quite calm.

The orderlies came forward and began to undo the restraints. Tony willed himself to lift his arm or a leg to attack, but his limbs wouldn’t cooperate. He was pulled forward by one of the men as the other reached for his suit and started pulling it off. Tony gave words of protests in a tired voice as they stripped him.

He watched his jacket and shirt hit the floor and in no time the coolness of the room was hitting his bare chest. 

“You got him?” an orderly said as he was handed over and held in a standing position while said person moved to unbuckle his pants. 

Tony did his best to snap out of it, but all he could do was force himself to stay awake as his pants were pulled downward. 

“Ssstop…stop..thisss,” he cried in a slurred voice. 

There was no stopping them as they dared go as far as removing his boxers. Tony let his eyes close as humiliation washed over him. 

“Why the shame Stark? You should be used to stripping considering how many dates you brought home,” an orderly joked, causing the other to laugh. 

Tony was dropped back into the chair where he sat like a ragdoll, barely able to make-out the going-ons with his blurry vision. He watched an orderly gather his clothes.

“Such a fine suit,” Whitmore complimented as he fingered the clothing. “Wish I could wear it.”

“Maybe you could keep it around until you can,” the orderly suggested.

“You know better. Take it to the incinerator.”

Tony lifted his tired eyes to Whitmore who just smiled.

“Basstard.”

His eyes drooped and remained shut as darkness overcame him.

 

When Tony awoke, he didn’t find himself sitting in the wheelchair. He was lying flat on his back on one of the operating tables in the same lab. He made to move and wasn’t surprised to find he was restrained. He blinked in annoyance at the operating lights hanging over his head.

“How long have I been out?” he asked to no one in particular. He could hear various people moving about.

“About an hour.”

He turned to see the young red haired girl standing by his side looking at an I-pad in her hand. 

“Hey, it’s Gina right?”

“That’s right,” she answered without looking up.

Tony snuck a glance at the other techs to ensure they weren’t too close. He noticed Whitmore across the room talking with one of them.

“Look, you seem like a nice girl. Bright too, so you’re bright enough to know this is wrong. If you help me get out of here, you’ll have your job in Stark Industries. I’ll pay you double what he’s giving you.”

She looked up and slowly shook her head.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, but I’m quite comfortable here. I enjoy what I’m learning and doing. Besides I saw the animal Whitmore wants to integrate you with and I just can’t wait to get started. Trust me, you’re going to be beautiful.”

His heart twisted with pity for the poor girl, brainwashed by his enemy.

“So clearly you’re okay with kidnapping and forcing this on me? Or is this revenge for not giving you an opportunity?”

She looked genuinely confused by his bitterness.

“I’m not out for revenge Mr. Stark. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t get into SI now that Mr. Whitmore gave me a chance. And really, you shouldn’t be so negative about this. It’s a new life, a better life for you. Stress free, no responsibility.”

“I like the stress, I like the responsibility. It’s my life and you can’t take it away from me damn it!”

“Mr. Stark...” Gina tried.

“You’re not getting away with this. My friends will find me, and you and Whitless will be ruined.”

Gina seemed at a loss for words as she backed away.

“Don’t feel threatened Gina,” Whitmore said calmly as he walked over. “It’s all talk.”

“You won’t be saying that once Captain America burst through that door,” Tony threatened.

“Captain America and the rest of your friends are on a mission far from here.” Upon Tony’s confused look, he explained. “I like to stay up to date on what the Avengers are doing. That way we don’t cross paths. But enough pointless threats. Time to get down to business. This process will take long enough without us arguing.”

He turned and signaled to one of his techs.

“Samuel, why don’t you bring our friend forward so Mr. Stark can have an idea on what his evolution will involve.”

Tony raised his head up as far as he could and watched as the guy called Samuel wheeled over a table with a cage on top. In that cage, was a medium sized patterned cat that Tony took for being a small leopard. It paced around its cage swishing its tail.

“I had considered a fox, but I figured a cat was more fitting,” said Whitmore proudly.

“What the hell is it?”

“An ocelot. Sadly they’re a rare breed, but quite beautiful. A small, but fierce cat that I found suiting for you.”

“How kind.” 

Whitmore gave a nod, then the cat was wheeled away. Tony watched it leave feeling dread. He did not want to believe this was happening. He dropped his head back down and stared ahead.

“So, you’re gonna destroy that animal, just to turn me into some abomination you can sell?”

“An unfortunate sacrifice. You see it won’t be a serum alone that changes you. We’ll also need a very important part from it. But that’s later. For now, onto prep.”

Several techs moved into position moving equipment near him. One got behind him and started strapping his head down into place while another began to work some wire frame into his mouth to force it open. Tony did his best to fight, but he was easily overpowered. 

“Just try to relax,” Whitmore said as another tech came over with a huge needle aimed for the interior of his mouth.

Tony’s eyes widened and his heart began to pound. He struggled uselessly against his bindings and cried noises of protests that were garbled since his mouth was opened. He felt the needle being inserted into the side of his gums and became even louder.

“Mr. Stark please. You should be grateful I’m letting them numb the area for you. I could’ve been cruel and insisted on no anesthesia.”

Anesthesia? Tony rolled his eyes toward him as the tech continued to stick the needle in various sites of his gums. He couldn’t understand the point of what appeared to be preparation for a dental procedure. 

“All done,” said the tech as she stepped back. 

Whitmore moved forward just as Tony felt his eyes tearing up.

“It’s a necessary step I’m afraid. Teeth do not transform, so naturally they’ll have to be removed to make room for your new canines.” 

His smile widened and Tony was sure it was due to an elevated expression of fear on his face.

“The same will be done to the fingernails and toenails.”

Already he could feel the numbing effects of the drug in his gums. He released a desperate moan, pleading in his mind for Steve and the others to come.

Unfortunately they didn’t show up in the time he’d been waiting. Instead the same tech that had been numbing his gums returned, waving extraction forceps. Tony practically wailed at the sight, but the woman paid him no mind as she fastened the forceps around a tooth. She said nothing as she began to work the tooth back and forth, then added a twisting motion. 

Eventually, the tooth was ripped free of his gums and dropped into a pan nearby.

Tears rolled down the side of Tony’s face as he gave a pained whine.

“Only thirty-one left to go,” she said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt highly suggested including some kind of surgery as part of the transformation process, so we have the horrible process of teeth being removed. As for the transformation itself, it took a little searching around, but I eventually decided on an ocelot. I feel like they don't crop up much in stories.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The procedure continues to another stage

The extraction continued for hours with Tony issuing occasional sobs and sounds of rage. None of it mattered since he was soon left with a bloody mouth without a single tooth.

A nozzle was placed into his mouth so much of the blood could be sucked away, but he was barely aware of it. He was barely aware of the injections currently being done to his fingers. The anesthesia was wearing thin and all he could do was sulk in a pit of rising pain and sob. Things were swirling in and out of focus and the tears continued to run. Never had he hated himself more for being dumb enough to investigate his rival all on his own. He cursed himself for needing to prove himself right about the man. Now his precious pearly whites had paid for his recklessness.

Time was lost on him, but he eventually became aware of something hard and cool working its way under a fingernail. Recalling what Whitmore had said, Tony shut his eyes. He didn’t want to imagine the process, but he certainly felt it happening.

Fingernail after perfectly manicured fingernail was slowly removed from each finger. At some point his toes were being injected. When they became numb, the same process was being done to the toenails.

Tony didn’t want to see. If he managed to somehow escape, he told himself he wouldn’t even spare a glance at his digits until he reached a surgeon who could fix him. 

“Don’t worry Stark,” came Whitmore’s voice drifting into his hazing mind. “Claws will be much better than these flimsy things.”

A hand rested on his chest and he choked back a sob.

“Shortly it will be time for the next stage. You’ve had surgical experience, so this shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

Tony opened his eyes and looked at him. He made to ask what he meant but the apparatus keeping his mouth open as well as the nozzle made his words muddled. Whitmore gave a chuckle as more techs moved around them, bringing more equipment forward.

“Look at you Stark. You look ridiculous.” 

Tony couldn’t argue the insult. He supposed he did look awful with only gums to show and no nails on any fingers or toes. No longer would he be able to flash a toothy smile at flashing cameras. Then again, he thought it was unlikely he’d ever see another camera.

He moaned and tried to shake his head. It all had to be a bad nightmare. 

“But not for long,” Whitmore continued.

Something was wheeled into Tony’s sight. He blinked a few times before he came to realize the thing brought over in a special container, was a heart; a heart that didn’t appear to be a human heart.

“Give it a moment, then get started,” Whitmore was saying to someone. 

Everything began to spin. He felt sick. All Tony wanted to do was just die to avoid feeling anything worse. 

Someone was touching his arm, then he felt something thin being inserted. His rolling eyes caught sight of an I.V being pushed toward him. 

Tony gave a shallow groan as he shut his eyes and allowed darkness to swallow him up.

 

“Success Mr. Whitmore.”

“…didn’t die…”

“Is he awake?”

The first thing Tony was acquainted with, was an exhausted kind of pain. Much of it radiated from his chest, giving him the feeling that he’d been given a hell of a punch there. 

He slowly opened his eyes to a very blurry world where unclear faces crowded him. There was an intense smell of blood. He blinked a few times as sickness wavered in his gut, then darkness took him.

He opened his eyes again. The pain in his chest was still there but not as powerful. The sick feeling was there too. His vision wasn’t as blurry so he was able to see the ceiling lights above. He groaned and tried to work his brain, but it might as well have been mush.

“Back with us Mr. Stark?”

His mouth moved, wanting to call the name of the voice but nothing came except a pained whine. Something bad was happening or had happened and he couldn’t get a handle on what it was. Honestly he didn’t want to work out what was happening. He was just too tired, and the pain wasn’t…wasn’t right.

He shut his eyes and drifted off again.

When Tony opened his eyes again, things were clearer. He saw the lights overhead and was aware that he was lying flat on a cool surface.

“Finally with us, Stark?”

Tony turned his head to the voice. It took a moment before he was able to connect the dots on who the man was and his current predicament. He shut his eyes and sighed. He was in the lab. He moved his tongue around and gave a brief moan of despair. The loss of all his teeth had not been some freaky nightmare. Whitmore, the bastard, was intent on changing him into a hybrid.

“Fuck” he choked out as he turned away. The fear seemed to have shifted into something he didn’t want to feel.

“Why the bitterness?” Whitmore continued. “You should be happy to be alive.”

Tony just wanted him to shut up. He smacked his gums together and tasted blood. His chest seemed to ache with the emotion he didn’t want burning within him.

“A heart transplant of this nature is very tricky. Always a chance the subject doesn’t make it, and believe me you came pretty close to not making it.”

Something cold struck him at the mention of ‘heart transplant’. He turned to the smiling man again, desiring to question what he meant, but he could only stare.

Whitmore didn’t elaborate. He simply indicated with a nod of his head.

Sensing his head was no longer strapped down, he lifted it and looked down.

There on his chest was the only explanation needed—a surgical scar. Several questions were swirling around at once and he struggled to communicate just one.

“Since you’ll no longer be human, you’ll no longer need a human heart. Or rather, you cannot. It’s one of those old sayings, but in this case it’s truth. The heart is the hardest thing to change, which is why it needed to be exchanged. And I’d say, with the heart you’ve been given, nine lives were added to your one.”

He wasn’t aware of the garbled scream that erupted from his lungs. He barely noticed as he struggled against his restraints, clawing at the table he was lying on with nail-less fingers. Tears ran, his vision swirled, his head shook violently in denial.

It couldn’t be happening! He wouldn’t believe it, even though he could feel the horror of it. All he could do was moan “No” over and over again. 

First he’d lost normalcy back in Afghanistan with a blast that forced him to have a piece of equipment trapped in his chest. It had kept him alive, and he’d been grateful for it. He’d gotten over having such a thing in him, but then he’d gone through surgery to get that normalcy back.

And now, it had been ripped away completely. It wasn’t mechanical, but organic; an inhuman organic thing pounding away inside. An organic thing he must rely on to live, that belonged to a wild cat…and it made him want to vomit. But part of him wanted to laugh at it all. It was so ridiculous. It was a cruel joke the universe was playing where he wasn’t allowed to keep a healthy normal heart. Had his own heart been so bad? Was it all just a punishment for the man he’d been before Iron man? He didn’t know anymore. What he did know was that he in no way felt the same. 

The techs moved around them. One removing the I.V while another came on his right and injected his arm with something. 

“He’s stable Mr. Whitmore,” a tech who was viewing the monitors nearby announced. “We’re ready for the next stage.”

“My favorite part,” Whitmore said with delight as he clapped his hands together.

Gina drifted over and looked down. Tony stopped his moaning and caught her eyes. He hoped she’d have a change of heart. Hoped she’d be able to see the pain he was going through. 

When she rested a hand on his shoulder he was certain it had finally gotten through.

“Please,” he tried to say. It didn’t matter that Whitmore was there. He had to make her understand.

“Mr. Whitmore…I…I don’t know if I can do this.”

He felt a flutter in his gut, and his eyes widened with relief.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The torturous procedure continues.

“What do you mean Gina?”

“I mean, what if I don’t get the integration right?”

Whitmore placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled gently.

“I have all the faith in the world in your skills. You’ll make Stark an amazing creature.”

It seemed to do the trick in uplifting her confidence and she gave a nod.

Tony blinked feeling dazed. He tried to ask what was happening now but his words couldn’t have been more garbled. Whitmore’s face was starting to blur.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you Stark. Business you understand.”

He felt the man pat his shoulder as he fell unconscious once more. 

 

This time when he returned to consciousness, he saw glass. This time he was lying on something soft, like a thin cot. Naturally he was strapped down, but he was able to lift his head and see that he was within some large glass cylinder. But the thing that had him most scared, was seeing all the wires that were inserted into various areas of his body that led out through the holes in the cylinder. A few had been attached on his chest as a way to monitor his vitals. There was a breathing tube inserted into his nose and the IV had been replaced back into his left arm.

Tony looked past the cylinder and noticed a table of lab techs positioned before computers a couple of feet away on his left. Looking down he could see some of his wires led to their monitors. He turned to his right just as another glass cylinder was being pushed by his side. And inside that cylinder, wired up much like himself, was the ocelot which was lying on its side either unconscious or dead. 

Tony followed the wires and realized they were connected to his own body. 

“Ready to begin stage three!” someone shouted.

“Proceed,” he heard Gina reply.

Techs walked up to the glass cylinders and began pushing buttons and turning dials on the cylinder’s complex panels. The cylinder began to hum and casted a warm glow upon his body which gave him the impression of being heated in a microwave. 

Afterwards, he felt something flowing into him through some of the wires and it sent him in a panic. 

“Stop! Damn you!” 

He wasn’t even sure if anyone could understand him properly due to the lack of teeth as well as the noise of equipment functioning.

“Try to relax Mr. Stark.”

He turned to see Gina inspecting him carefully outside the glass.

“Don’t do this,” he pleaded. But she had turned to take note of the ocelot instead. The same effect was happening in its cylinder, yet it did not seem to be alive at all.

“I wish there was a way to do this without killing it,” Gina said to a tech who walked up to her to observe the cat.

“In a way he’ll live through Stark, so you can dry your eyes,” he answered.

“Not really,” Gina disagreed. “Whitmore said it’s more that we’re taking the animal’s body, to merge with the person. The animal’s soul is gone completely. Who Mr. Stark is will be totally intact…except…”

“Except he’ll have a desire to climb a tree and hunt. So in a way, Mr. Stark won’t be intact. He’ll be…just some docile animal.”

Tony watched the exchange with horror filled eyes. Gina and the tech then turned to him. She pulled up her I-pad and began making notes.

“Well, much of those hybrids have lost their original personalities in favor of adopting the animals’. But Whitmore’s wanted a better way for the person to keep more of themselves after the transformation. It’s really complicated. That’s why he looked to me, and why I wasn’t sure I could do it.”

“So, what he won’t have those instincts?”

“No he will. The ocelot’s brain is alive, and before this stage is up I’ll start that phase of feeding those instincts into Mr. Stark. He wouldn’t be able to survive without them.”

The tech chuckled and shook his head.

“Is survival important? He’s going to be sold as a pet, not cut lose to live in the wild.”

“It will matter because people expect hybrids to be animals, not walking around acting like humans. And I’m not going to let Mr. Whitmore down if I can help it.”

Tony never wanted to vomit more than he did now. And since words didn’t work, he resorted to cursing them as loud as he could. Unfortunately most of the techs appeared to care less.

“Can’t we shut him up?”

“He needs to be awake for this,” Gina said calmly. 

Tony did stop soon enough upon realizing it wasn’t getting him anywhere. He sighed heavily and shut his eyes as his thoughts drifted to Pepper, to Rhodey and the rest of the Avenger gang. In a way it felt like the missile situation all over again where he knew he was about to die. He’d tried to contact Pepper and did his best to accept the end. Thankfully it hadn’t ended, but now he was in yet another situation where it seemed the end was near. Unless Hulk crashed through a wall right this second, he didn’t see how he’d make it out this time.

He shook his head and tried to will back the pain of it. He didn’t want to accept this version of the end, where he was changed into some monster. But aside from his fate, it was almost as worse knowing Whitmore was getting away with this.

He narrowed his eyes and choked away the sorrow.

“My friends…,” he muttered, “they’ll find me…”

 

Time was a concept he’d lost touch with. For the longest time Tony just felt like he was wasting time lying on the cot in the cylinder with nothing happening. He felt nothing except tiredness. He was sure he wouldn’t have been able to move even if the straps hadn’t held him down.

There were points where the now soft lull of the machines caused him to drift to sleep. Once or twice he felt a warm tingling sensation that lingered a bit before fading away. 

He did bodily checks every now and then to make sure nothing was changing on himself and was satisfied that he remained human. 

Convinced it was a sign of failure, he tried throwing it in the tech’s faces, but none seemed worried. They just continued to make notes, type on the computers, and look in on him. 

Then a day came when he woke to the feeling of his fingertips on fire. He raised his head crying out, but he couldn’t see properly. Gina had hurried up to the glass and smiled as she looked at his fingers.

“Don’t worry Mr. Stark. They’re coming out nicely.”

He stopped his crying and met her eyes with a questioning expression.

“Your claws.”

Tony hesitated before moving his fingers experimentally. Sure enough, they weren’t nail-less anymore as he could at least feel them tearing at the cot.

“Fuck you,” he cursed.

The warm tingling sensation was quickly turning into unpleasant pain that struck his mouth and appeared to coat his entire body on the inside. 

Tony howled. He shook his head violently as he felt something starting to tear out of his gums. 

The pain coursing his body was hot and electric. It made everything feel overly sensitive, but there was something else as well. Though he didn’t know, he was sure it was what dying felt like.

The pain only intensified and no matter how loud he screamed, none of the techs seemed concerned. 

Sometimes he couldn’t scream. Sometimes he just laid there and stared back at the faces pressing in against the glass as his throat burned raw. 

He caught a glimpse of his toes when the pain hit that area the hardest and saw the claws had made an appearance there as well. By this point, he had a better feel for the fangs pushing their way through, replacing his lost pearly whites.

He was disconnected from himself as he watched tawny fur spring up along his arm with beautiful spots. It sprouted over his chest as he jerked in shock. Things were shifting around internally. His muscles, even his bones, ached like hell. His eyes became teary as they stung horribly. 

A day came when someone, he assumed Gina, had inserted wires into his head. He turned to see the same had been done to the ocelot. On the whole it was hard to take in such a fact as he was still lost in agony. He heard her saying something that sounded like “Don’t worry” and “Trust me” but he could focus on nothing as his brain started to fry. 

Never had he wanted to die more than he did now.

_‘Just let me die…God…let me die!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the claws, the fur, and fangs, the transformation's almost complete.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's transformation nears its end...meanwhile someone is worried.

No one seemed to care except Gina who had taken a moment to making shushing sounds at him and instructed him to just breathe and relax. He managed to look at her, surprised at how sharp she appeared in his eyes. Then he shifted his gaze to the ocelot, which was a terrible mistake.

It was nothing more than a bloody unrecognizable carcass now. Such a sight had him screaming in horror. 

“More than halfway there,” he heard someone say. 

“Unstrap him!”

The restraints loosened and snapped open, and Tony was free to arch as a blistering electric shock traveled down his spine. His legs were on fire. They contorted of their own accord. There was a ripping sensation near his end while his feet seemed to melt.

Tony couldn’t keep up with any of it. All he could do was howl.

He grabbed at his face as the electrical heat hit his cheeks. Things were protruding, his nose was shifting. 

He rolled to his side on the cot and curled in on himself trembling violently.

There was chatter all around him and figures moving around quickly.

As soon as he was able to catch his breath he tried to focus his thoughts on his friends. He thought about being Iron man. How he’d flown poorly the first time, and how he’d rescued various people. He thought about the intimate moments he’d spent with Pepper and the kisses they shared. He thought about the laughs he had with Rhodey on the couch or in the bar.

So many memories flashed in his mind, but it was getting harder and harder for him to keep up with them. As they flashed, they started to feel more like dreams.

Dreams that made him nervous and wary.

There were so many…odd things in the memories.

So many…odd places.

So many…humans.

Humans.

No. Wasn’t he human? He felt he didn’t know.

Then the memories felt fuzzy and they didn’t seem important enough to examine anymore. 

He dropped his clawed hands away from his face and stared, lost in confusion and bizarre questions.

“We’re losing him!”

“Oh god…no…no!”

“Gina get ahold of yourself!”

“Shock him! Quickly!”

He felt a powerful zap that made him jerk hard. Then he felt it again.

An unknown face pushed inward, but he couldn’t see it clearly.

Something soft touched his cheek, causing him to give a soft whine. He was beyond exhausted, and the pain that was wracking his body was slowly diminishing. 

Tony shut his eyes as whatever soft thing continued to stroke his cheek. 

 

Pepper sat on the couch, going over schedules and appointments on her I-pad while doing her utmost to ignore the continuous news reports covering the disappearance of Tony Stark. It had been a week and a half and there wasn’t so much as a hint of his whereabouts.

On the second day after getting no response from him on his phone, she naturally turned to JARVIS, but the A.I had disappointed her greatly.

He claimed the last time he interacted with Tony was two days before she realized he was missing. According to him, Tony had informed him he was going out for coffee and that he’d see him later. Pepper had then asked why he hadn’t bothered to contact her about his creator’s sudden disappearance to which JARVIS claimed to be suffering a corruption of some sort. 

It made her believe Tony had the A.I covering for him, so she let it pass until two more days passed. People who had appointments with him needed to know where he was, so once again she turned to JARVIS, but the A.I was unable to pull up anything.

Even after recovering from the corruption, JARVIS found nothing that could point to Tony’s whereabouts. After that she alerted the team, and Rhodey, and the FBI, anyone that could help.

In the meantime she did what she was currently doing now, trying to oversee SI without him, and trying not to worry.

Eventually she broke her promise not to look as she glanced at the tv. Just seeing footage of Tony encountering paparazzi or flying through the air as Iron man was enough to make her heart ache.

Her phone rang, startling her, and she hoped as she always did, that it would be Tony on the other end, but the number was recognizable.

“Hey Rhodes.”

“Pepper, how you holding up?”

“I’m not sure I am. How about you?”

“Same.”

Silence fell for a moment. 

“Do you think…this might be like the time he was in Afghanistan? I mean, do you think he’ll escape and come back on his own, from where ever he is?” 

Rhodey didn’t answer right away. And Pepper knew he didn’t believe it would happen.

“It’s possible Pep. Tony’s smart. He can work his way out of anything.”

Pepper took a moment to gather herself before responding with what she hoped wasn’t a broken voice.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. I’ll, I’ll let you get back to work. But call me whenever you need to talk.”

“I will.”

She hung up and leaned back against the couch and sighed.

“Can I get you anything Miss Potts?” JARVIS asked.

She gave a tired shake of the head. There was only one thing he could get, to make the nightmare go away and she was scared it really wouldn’t be like last time. But there had been Steve. Steve had told her to have faith that they’d find him, but it was getting harder and harder to hold onto it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The transformation is complete

Muffled voices reached his ears which twitched as they became clearer. Then odd smells invaded his nose, some pretty unpleasant but others were intriguing.

“He’s beautiful,” said a voice he distinguished as male. “Simply beautiful. And I shouldn’t be surprised because as always, my team does fantastic work. Give yourselves a round of applause.”

Clapping echoed all around him, along with a few cheers. The annoying sounds were enough to stir him to wakefulness. 

He opened his eyes to see a little crowd of two-legged creatures standing around him with their attention on some portly man. From where he laid on his side, he just watched as something kept nudging at his brain. 

“And Gina, I knew you could do it. I was right to have faith.”

 _‘Humans’_ , he thought. And when he thought of humans, he had a feeling he recognized them. He watched as a young red-headed female smiled shyly and allowed the portly man to embrace her.

“Well, we won’t know until we monitor his behavior,” she said.

“Nonsense. I know you succeeded well.”

“Look, he’s waking up.”

All their faces turned to him.

“Well now, and how are we feeling? A little tired I imagine.”

He only stared at the portly man as a feeling of unease began to rise within him. But before anything there was a lot of confusion.

“Why don’t you rise for us? Rise for us so we can get a good look at you.”

It sounded reasonable enough, so he carefully positioned his legs under himself and rose up on all fours.

“That’s it. That’s it Stark. Or perhaps I should just call you Tony.”

He froze.

_‘Tony….Tony…Stark…Tony?’_

The name struck a nerve somehow and he had the image of himself on two legs. But if that were the case, what was he doing on all fours? 

“Fetch a mirror. Let Stark get a good look. He thought he was a sight to behold before, but it’s nothing compared to now.”

Soon a huge mirror was pushed toward him.

“There now, you see.”

He couldn’t stop staring. 

The body was much like a human’s, except for the fact that he was covered head to toe in fur. The top coat was tawny and faded to a creamy underside. Patterning that fur were black spots mixed with unshapely black markings which lined his cheeks and encircled his large brown eyes. A long tail of black stripes twitched nervously.

Then there were his hind legs, which were definitely not the legs of a human, but a cat’s, with paws that appeared to be a weird mesh of cat and human toes. His front legs were more human like, as were his front paws. But perhaps most human of all was his face. He had the ears of an ocelot atop his head, and the nose was definitely feline, with whiskers sprouting from the cheeks. A sign of who he’d been remained, with the crop of dark hair and goatee. In fact, much of his top half had little fur and did look more human than his lower half.

But it hadn’t mattered. 

What did matter was that what he was seeing in the mirror was quite frightening, because he did not remember being that way. He remembered something about being a Tony Stark. He remembered something about this portly man, and the sight of a smaller animal that resembled him, appearing to be dead in a glass cylinder. He remembered smiling at this man. Then there was pain. There were bizarre creatures like himself, then there was more pain. He remembered, not being who he was and he jumped away, hissing fiercely. 

“What’s the matter? Disagree?”

An awful horror was clutching his heart as Tony stumbled away. He couldn’t breathe properly and it seemed impossible to get his thoughts together. All he was aware of was that he was called Tony Stark, and he wasn’t supposed to look like that!

He looked up at the smiling faces peering at him. He took note that he was in a small white room behind glass with holes. He took note of the portly man, somehow knowing he was responsible and hissed again, showing sharp fangs.

“Come now Stark. I know it’ll take some getting used to, but you’ll adapt in no time. Much like you had to adapt after the events in Afghanistan.”

Memories of being on a table, feeling nothing but pain stemming from his chest surfaced. He recalled a cave and some old man, and seeing wires then a circle of light coming from his chest. Such memories made him shudder. He found himself pacing, but he had to stop pacing soon enough because it just felt too natural to move on all fours.

 _‘No’_ , he thought desperately. _‘No…no…no…no’_

It was all wrong. This wasn’t supposed to be natural. There was some odd feeling inside, not quite pain, but at the same time it was, coursing through him.

Something about this feeling didn’t make him feel put-together. 

Something was missing. Someone had taken him apart and put him together again all wrong. 

He flash-backed to memories of being in a cylinder screaming in pain. He saw claws on his feet and it was enough to convince him this really was all wrong.

He began to pace again, ignoring the lab techs on the other side who took notes and muttered to one another as they watched him. His fur was standing on end and little whimpers escaped his lips.

_‘No…no…no’_

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony looked up to see the young woman moving close to the glass looking worried.

“Don’t worry Gina,” Whitmore explained calmly. “They’re usually a bit agitated when they first awaken. It’s normal.”

With a growl building in the back of his throat, Tony lunged and hit the glass.

Everyone jumped back, surprised as Tony landed and shook his head to knock off the daze.

“Now Stark, that wasn’t very smart was it?” Whitmore asked as if he were talking to a child.

Tony just glared at him as he stepped away from them all, hissing.

“Is he, gonna be alright?” Gina asked worriedly. “Maybe the integration went wrong.”

“Nothing went wrong my dear. He’ll soon settle down.”

But Tony didn’t settle down. Without thinking, he lunged at them again, smacking against the glass and clawing at it fiercely. His eyes were solely on Whitmore as he snapped his jaws at him.

“Give it a couple of days,” the man said calmly without taking his eyes off Tony. “Then I need a full report. Measurements, weight, the works. The sooner, the quicker I can have another auction.”

Whitmore pressed his hand against the glass as Tony continued to snap at it, as if he hoped to bite through it.

“I’ve no doubt I’ll make quite the fortune on you.”

With that he turned and walked away. The rest followed, deciding it was best to give Tony some time to himself to adjust.

It was only when they were out of sight did Tony stop biting at the glass and dropped to all fours.

For the moment he just stood there breathing heavily. There seemed to be too much to take in, so he turned away from the glass and took in his environment. It was almost completely bare except for a tree with nicely spreading branches. 

Tony moved about it, looking at it carefully because the last thing he wanted was to be surprised again. His heart was still hammering from the last surprise. 

After a few flicks of his tail, he sprung and easily zipped up the tree. He felt better already. Up high, he was able to get a better view of the strange environment beyond the glass. It was wide and there were other little rooms in the space like his own. Some of the rooms even had strange creatures occupying them. One of the creatures looked pretty rabbit like. He twitched his nose taking in the scent and was intrigued that it did smell like rabbit. There were a lot of weird scents drifting into his room, but he wasn’t entirely sure what to make about most of them. 

He glanced up and saw that the glass met the ceiling. There was no clear opening for him to leave, so he laid upon a branch and observed the space. His tail swished back and forth and a slight growl rumbled in his throat.

His thoughts fell on the humans that had visited him momentarily. They had hurt him in ways he couldn’t recall properly. He wanted to remember, but at the same time he didn’t see the point. 

They weren’t hurting him now. The humans were gone and he was safe. But if they did return, he swore he would not let them hurt him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony has become an Ocelot hybrid, and naturally he's not happy, even though he's confused with his jumbled memories.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's aggression doesn't wear off for the techs' liking.

He shut his eyes and tried to imagine a time before he’d woken. There were humans he didn’t recognize well. There was a strange moment where he was flying through the air. None of it made sense, and thinking about it only served to hurt his brain. So instead, he chose not to think in favor of resting. 

“You are really beautiful.”

Tony opened his eyes and hissed at the sight of the young girl who was looking at him in awe. He was even more annoyed to see another human walk up, but a sudden smell shifted his attitude. 

The male was holding a silver dish that seemed to be filled with something that smelled quite delicious.

“You’re hungry aren’t you,” said Gina. “You must be. You went through quite a process.”

The male set the dish down on the floor, then hit a few buttons on the panel on the glass. A rectangular slot opened allowing him to slide the dish inside. Tony immediately jumped down from the tree, intent on reaching a paw through the opening, but it closed before he could get to it.

He then turned his narrowed eyes on the pair, hissing and baring his fangs.

“He’s still pretty aggressive,” said the male. “Aren’t they usually more docile?”

“He’s part ocelot and they’re fierce animals,” Gina replied. “Or maybe, I really did fail during the integration process.”

“Well it doesn’t matter. He’s still getting sold.”

Tony kept a wary watch on them a minute longer before turning his attention to the dish of food. He really was pretty hungry, so after a few sniffs he plunged into it.

“Hopefully food will make him better,” Gina said quietly. 

He gulped down the meat without a second thought, taking in great mouthfuls. When he did get his fill, he found he did feel better. The weird empty feeling had dissipated some. Satisfied, he sat and began licking a paw clean. The chunks of raw steak had been quite good.

“Shame he has to be sold. I think I’d like to have him,” Gina stated dreamily.

“Are you kidding, you couldn’t possibly afford him,” the man said as he turn away.

 

For the next couple of days, the lab techs found there was no change in Tony’s attitude. Every time they appeared to observe him or make notes he hissed and growled and usually threw himself into the glass to get at them. It became quite risky retrieving the food or water dish through the slot even though they used a rod to grab it. Tony would rush over instantly and attempt to stuff a paw through and scratch them. At one point he’d been quick enough to snatch up the rod. As a way of punishing him, they didn’t feed him for a whole day. The punishment, however, only resulted in Tony becoming even more enraged. When he wasn’t given food, he clawed viciously at the slot. When his frustration built up even more, he clawed hard at the glass. 

_‘Bastards’_

The word rang through his head whenever he caught sight of or thought of those white coated humans. It seemed fitting, especially since they decided to stop giving him delicious meat.

_‘Bastards’_

He paced about in a circle with hunger on his mind. Every now and then he’d glance out into the space and just felt a rush of frustration. If he could make it out, he wouldn’t need the bastards’ food. There was that rabbit creature across from him that was good enough. There was also some kind of snake creature. 

No, he wouldn’t need the bastards when he could just hunt his own food.

_‘Wait…hunt?’_

He stopped pacing as something weird dawned on him. He didn’t hunt for food. Hadn’t he always received it from humans? He didn’t recall having the need to catch things like rabbits or snakes.

He issued a whine and shuddered as he saw himself eating in some odd, fancy room among other humans.

Maybe he’d done that once. He honestly wasn’t sure. 

He gave a sigh and started pacing again. Even if it wasn’t for the sake of hunting, he still wanted to get out of the room. Being in the plain white room was annoying and very boring. Yes he had a nice tree that was great for climbing, but there was nothing else. There was no grass or foliage of any kind. It was a true sign that the bastards were in control and he hated it. 

He stopped pacing again and stared at the glass. He twitched his tail curiously as a strange idea came to him about a metal red and gold human smashing the glass to pieces. Tony didn’t understand where the strange image had come from, but somehow he felt connected to it and he wished that it could happen somehow.

When the door across the room opened, Tony gave a snarl and backed up, eager to pounce as the bastards entered. One of the bastards was carrying something he knew very well—a gun. The sight brought the claws out of him.

“Easy Tony,” Gina said gently. “We just need to get a report on you. Check you over. But we had a feeling you’re not gonna let us just walk in and do it.”

Tony hissed then jumped at the glass. Considering the number of times he’d do it, they were surprised it didn’t break by now.

The man with the gun lined it up with one of the portholes in the glass. Tony growled and started to pace in an erratic fashion. Guns weren’t something to be messed with. He recalled having been shot at before, but he’d been protected. The only protection he had was the tree. But before he rationalized the need to spring up to the high branch or even duck behind it, he felt a sting in his flank.

“Got him.”

Tony hissed and leapt for the man.

“Maybe you should consider putting him in a padded room,” he said with a slight chuckle.

Tony shook off the daze and narrowed his eyes at the man, but didn’t jump. He didn’t have the energy to do so anyways.

Things were starting to move slowly and the room was starting to lose focus.

Determined not to lose it, he turned to the tree, intent on trying to climb up it, but it seemed his body was too heavy for the task. Hell, his body didn’t even seem capable of staying upright and walking. With a final snarl he fell to the floor as darkness took him.

“Alright, let’s do this quickly,” Gina said as two of the techs began operating the panel and opening his cell.

The tech moved quickly when it came to recording the necessary information like height, weight, coloring, etc. At one point, Whitmore entered and frowned at the sight of the unconscious hybrid.

“Still terribly aggressive?” he asked. 

“Yes sir, unfortunately,” Gina answered as she watched the team check Tony’s teeth and eyes and claws.

“Normally the hybrid would be a little calmer by now. But of course everyone’s different, but I’m sure Mr. Stark will start to settle soon enough.”

“And…if he doesn’t?”

“We’ll still sell him. Stark will pay me back.”

By the time the techs had recorded the necessary data, Tony was starting to show signs of waking. Two members carefully lifted and carried him back to his cell. Once he woke, he was in no fit state to hiss and jump at them. It was the one and only time he’d been calm enough for them to observe up close.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is prepared for the auction

The next day however, the techs took to observing him from their cameras in an alternate room, being that Tony was normally calmer without the presence of people around. He’d pace for a bit, looking out into the room at his fellow creatures, then when he tired of it, he jumped up the tree. A lot of the time he slept. Then there were moments when he’d sit looking lost. It wasn’t worrying for the techs. It was normal for a newborn hybrid to express confusion. It just took a little time for the human brain to fully adapt to the animal’s mentality. The thing was, it usually didn’t take a whole week. If there was anything that was worrying, it was the anxious pacing Tony did from time to time. They also noticed he’d sometimes pop up in the middle of the night to do a little nervous pacing. 

“What if we get him a form of entertainment?” Gina suggested. 

“Whitmore hasn’t made a female ocelot hybrid,” a tech told her, sounding annoyed.

“No, I mean a toy.”

“Well we’ve got to try something. Whitmore wants to try and have an auction next week.”

One morning, Tony woke to find said toy in the form of a large rubber ball in the corner. 

His first instinct was to jump away in alarm at the strange object. He was sure he’d never seen anything like it before, yet something was trying to tell him it was nothing to fear. 

Cautiously he approached, expecting the worst knowing it came from the bastards. With a growl rumbling in the back of his throat, he struck out a clawed paw at the thing. It bounced back, hit the wall, and came toward him. 

It was something interesting for once, and it was nice to feel curiosity rather than anger all the time. So Tony took to batting the ball around for a bit. He even pounced on it and attempted to nibble at the thing. But then curiosity started to turn into anger. The idea of play wasn’t sitting well with him anymore.

He wasn’t supposed to have time for such nonsense. He had a place to be, creating things. He was supposed to be in certain places…help certain people. 

Again he saw himself flying somehow. He saw his hands, not paws, messing with strange mechanical things. 

_‘Stark,’_ he started thinking desperately. _‘Tony…Stark. No time…I don’t have time…’_

This wasn’t right. He remembered this wasn’t right! He growled and angrily clawed at the ball until it burst. The loud pop sent him flying against the glass in rage.

In another room, watching on the cameras, the tech team’s happiness at seeing Tony play quickly dropped as they witnessed another one of his raging fits.

 _‘Get out,’_ he thought desperately. _‘Have to…get out’_

Towards the end of the second week, Whitmore was standing off to the side watching Tony snarl and struggle in a metal stand meant to keep him in place as a few of his techs washed him. Despite being bound and muzzled, Tony made it quite an uncomfortable experience for them. They used brushes on poles to soap him up good and an extended shower head for rinsing. They were gentle and did use a proper temperature for the water, but the bath as a whole was just making Tony go ballistic. 

Whitmore knew it didn’t have to be so hard. He was certain the reason the techs were dipping and dodging around him so much was because they were quite frightened of Tony.

It was understandable, and worrying. 

“I’m not sure we’ll be able to sell this one,” one of the techs announced as he stopped trying to rinse Tony who attempted to snap at him despite the muzzle. The chains on his neck which were connected to the stand prevented the action.

“We are selling, and I don’t want to hear any more objections to it,” he said firmly. “Stark will pay me back. And after what he’s become, do you think I’d really waste an ocelot on him just to keep him behind glass?”

“I’m sure it’s my fault sir,” said Gina meekly as she came forward. She watched Tony angrily fidget as the rinsing began. “The integration must have failed. Maybe he wasn’t just compatible enough with the ocelot…or…”

Whitmore laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t beat yourself up Gina. I don’t blame you. If anything, it all comes down to Stark. All the stress he’s put himself under trying to save SI, and trying to be a hero. He was probably always an angry little man deep down and nobody knew.”

At that moment, Tony chose to give him a long hard stare. Whitmore had no doubt that Tony would’ve ripped his neck out if he was able to get free of the stand.

“I want him prepped and caged within two hours. I’ve got an auction remember, and I will not see Stark late for it.”

All the techs gave a chorus of “Yes sir” as they continued cleaning the angry cat. Gina sighed and walked away with a hanging head. 

 

It was humiliating. The whole bathing experience was humiliating, and Tony couldn’t quite figure why that was. Sure he despised the bastards. Every time they neared him he just wanted to rip his claws into their throats, but there was something about getting washed that was extremely frustrating. 

Part of it was the soap and water, but he had an inkling he’d always managed to use them on his own. Somewhere he used such things on his own. 

When the rising stopped, the techs came forward with things he was surprised he recognized—hairdryers. A semblance of calmness came to him and he actually held still. It was pointless to put up this much fight at the moment. The bastards were still bastards, but they were going to go to the trouble of drying him. It didn’t make sense to fight it, even if he was still angry. 

_‘I’ll get out…I’ll get out…out’_ he thought desperately. He figured he had a place to go once he escaped, but he wasn’t entirely sure where that was.

 

Tony cooperated as best he could as they proceeded to brush him after the drying. He just let the strange thoughts of flying occupy his mind, but every now and then he fidgeted wildly and attempted to bite past the muzzle. It was so frustrating, and humiliating, and even more frustrating. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

“We’ll have to knock him out!” a tech shouted. “We’ll never get him in the cage like this!”

Once the dreaded needle came into sight, Tony snarled viciously. He recalled getting stabbed by such a thing, and pain had followed.

_‘No…no…no…NO!’_

He felt the pinch on his flank.

“There now.”

It wasn’t long before he felt himself slipping.

 _‘No…no…I…’_ He looked up as Gina came into view. _‘Pepper?’_

He didn’t know where the word had come from suddenly, but somehow he knew it wasn’t just a word, but a person. But there wasn’t enough time to examine it more as darkness settled over him.

 

When Tony opened his eyes, he saw right away he wasn’t in the boring white room with the glass. This cage was different. It was smaller and had steel bars. There were similar cages all around him, all containing the same creatures that had been in the white rooms with him. He smelled the rabbit creature and a few others that caught his interest and made him feel hungry. 

He pulled himself up and checked out his new environment. There were no tree this time, and the cage was barely big enough for him to turn around in. It was deplorable, unacceptable. 

He began to pace, growling and flicking his tail. Hadn’t he always had the best? He had always gotten the best rooms, best food…best mates? 

_‘Pepper?’_

He could make out a female with long red hair smiling at him. This was Pepper, he knew that much, but she was a human.

_‘That’s right…I was human…’_

He was Tony…Tony Stark. And yes he had flown! He’d been in the best places, and he had a good place somewhere, a good home.

Panic caused his heart to flutter and transform into a terrible pounding against his chest. None of this was right, and it didn’t feel right.

With a whimper he began pacing again even though it wasn’t right. It wasn’t right to walk on fours. But the fear was right. 

_‘No!’_

He found himself unable to breathe a few times. It was normal for the room to spin right?

_‘But…Tony…Tony…I’m…’_

He saw humans flashing lights in his face. They were…cameras? He was famous. Yes…he was. 

The whimpering issuing from his lips became louder as something horrible dropped in his gut. There was a terrible sadness. There was Pepper…there was some human named Steve. There was a Rhodey? And there were others. Others he wouldn’t see again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitmore confronts Tony who manages to bring up an important trait of humans

He stopped and whined loudly. It turned aggressive when a shock of anger tried to rise, turning the whining into a frightening mix of human and animal sorrow. The other creatures seemed to still and look around. Maybe they understood what he was going through as the normal sounds became quite depressing to hear.

Eventually Tony had to sit. He just needed to stop for a moment as he choked up a few sobs and shivered. It was too complicated for his poor mind. Things were easier when it was simpler. So all he could think now was _‘Danger…danger’_.

The sound of a door in the far corner distracted him. He didn’t growl when he saw a finely dressed Whitmore approaching, along with two guards. He was smiling. Tony always hated that smile.

“Back with us Stark?”

For once Tony didn’t attempt to throw himself at the bastards. He issued a low growl and kept his head down as he tried to push away the need to strike. He had to get something clear with this man, his enemy. He had to get him to see, to understand.

“The day you broke into my little zoo and freed some of my pets, I admit, I was afraid I was done. Do you remember that?”

Tony slowly rose his head as his body continued to shake from fear and great uncertainty. He did recall seeing all these cages before. He remembered running around them, and he remembered talking to someone.

Talking.

Tony moved his mouth a few times and tried to focus.

“I don’t like losing Stark. I’m sure you’d understand that. I’ve built a good business here and a good reputation without you tarnishing it. But now I see your break-in was possibly a good thing.” Whitmore leaned in close grinning widely at the ocelot hybrid who seemed to cower. “I know I’ll make a fortune on you.”

A choke erupted from Tony’s throat. It sounded as if he was trying to dislodge something. And then suddenly, something very human came out, but in a whisper.

“No.”

Whitmore looked surprised and leaned away.

“What…what did you say?” 

“No,” Tony said a little louder. He stood and stepped as far away from the bars as he could as he stared the man down. “No…No…bass…bastard!”

Whitmore chuckled.

“Finally found your voice eh? Keep that up and the people will be more certain you’re Tony Stark.” 

Tony remembered his voice. There was another sound in it, more animal like, but it was his voice. It was human once, wasn’t it?

He growled and swished his tail. God did he want to say more. He wanted to curse, but the strain to vocally throw any more words at him was lost on him at the moment, so he resorted to hissing. Whitmore just continued to smile.

“I think many would agree this is the perfect way to silence you.” He turned to his guards then. “Be ready to deliver him on stage. This time, no screw ups.”

“Yes boss.”

There was nothing for it at the moment. Tony took to pacing in the small cell as he forced his brain to recall things that seemed far out of his reach. There were people, a group of powerful people, and he knew he was a part of it. But such people weren’t here. That wasn’t supposed to matter. He was strong enough and clever enough to figure things out.

_‘Think…think…’_

It was hard to think about what didn’t make sense. Why should he think he could think of a way out? As much as he hated the bastards, he had to admit they were good enough to outsmart him too many times. They had managed to overpower him with this new cage.

Tony stopped pacing then and looked at the cage door. It seemed to have parts to it…all kinds of things he didn’t understand. Nevertheless, he popped his claws and scratched viciously at the door. He used his hands before to break stuff. He’d had something blast out of it once, and such power was how he escaped things before. But he didn’t have those types of hands now, and his claws as sharp as they were couldn’t break the door. He stopped trying and growled. This wasn’t working.

The door opened to the room again and two men came near. One was pulling some long flat object with wheels. Tony backed away hissing.

“Come on pussycat. Time to smile for the people.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Auction

One of the men moved to the back of the cage while the other moved the wheeled thing in front of the cage. Tony didn’t understand anything about what they were doing, but he didn’t care. He started to throw a fit, attempting to attack the man that had moved to the back of his cage. He couldn’t see him since the back was solid steel and such an addition to his cage kept the man from being scratched or bitten. Realizing that much, Tony turned to the man up front, but his paws wouldn’t fit through the bars. It didn’t matter since he was out of reach anyways.

He felt a jolt as the cage was moved, and a spark of fear interrupted the rage. The next thing he knew he was moving, moving past the other caged creatures.

_‘What’s…happening?’_

Tony shut his eyes and focused on tapping into his voice.

“No…no…stop!”

The strain was so much he dropped it and settled for pacing as he continued to move. 

“Think anyone will want him?” one of the men asked. “He might be too nuts for them.”

“If he doesn’t get sold, he’ll make a good rug in Whitmore’s house.”

They laughed as they positioned the cage just behind the stage they had neared. Tony stopped his pacing as he heard Whitmore’s voice booming.

“…a marvelous treat for you. I think you’ll truly appreciate the effort that went into capturing such a fine specimen.”

Tony’s eyes found Whitmore who was turned to him, smiling with his arms raised.

Suddenly he was pushed toward him and the sound of “ooouus” and “aawws” chorused around him. He shifted his sight immediately to his left and felt shocked at the sudden sight of possibly fifty humans staring at him from tables at a safe distance before him. Any anger he’d felt dispelled for a feeling far worse.

He backed away as his breathing quickened. What he wouldn’t give for a nice tree to jump into, or some dark little den to hide in. The humans were smiling, then they started to applaud, which only made the feeling worse. It was impossible to think now as his stomach twisted in knots.

“Yes, yes, he is something isn’t he,” Whitmore was saying. “A beautiful ocelot hybrid.”

The applause and sounds of interest increased.

“Ocelots themselves are a rare breed, and this particular hybrid is an even rarer breed at that.”

Whitmore was looking at Tony whose attention was solely on the crowd. He was like a deer caught in the headlights. He hadn’t even noticed they were next to each other on the stage.

“Now, normally I don’t give away the identity of the hybrid. It doesn’t matter anymore after all since they are going to new homes with new lives. But in this case, I can’t resist. Now I know I can trust you enough with such a secret. Our hybrids are only for the well-deserved, you all of course. And you know if too many are in on it, then that would be the end of this, and I know you wouldn’t want that.”

There were shouts of agreement as well as applause. The Golden Rod society would not let anyone take their precious pets from them.

“I thought so,” Whitmore said happily. “There for, it pleases me to introduce this hybrid properly. A hybrid, once a very prominent man whom you’ve no doubt heard a lot about in the news recently. A man who’s secretly retired from that demanding stressful life for a much simpler one, free from responsibility.”

Whitmore’s words were slowly pulling Tony from the shock. He looked up at the man then back to the people. He had seen this setting before, and there was something ironic about him being in this situation. 

He started to pace and growl at the audience. He felt disgust for them now though he didn’t understand why. They did seem to admire him which was great of course, but the way they were admiring him was wrong.

By now the audience was on the edge of their seats, waiting for Whitmore to reveal the identity.

“May I offer to you, Mr. Tony Stark!”

There were gasps of surprise. Some people were on their feet edging forward to get a better look at the ocelot hybrid.

“Yes, I can see it!” someone shouted.

“He does look like Stark doesn’t he?”

“What? Are you serious?”

Some were conversing with one another like crazy, while the rest looked quite intrigued.

“I’ll give you ten thousand for him!”

“Eleven thousand!”

“Twelve!”

Whitmore chuckled and raised his hands to calm the crowd.

“Settle down, settle down please. The bidding hasn’t officially started. But I get your enthusiasm. Who wouldn’t want the famous Tony Stark in their lives.”

Tony gave a loud hiss and pulled away as if he was prepared to pounce at them. Just hearing his name seemed to bring it all back, but in pieces. Right now he knew he was in a terrible position and he needed to get away from these people. He needed to find his people and have them stopped. It was what he was trying to do once, he was sure.

“I know the lucky buyer will take very good care of Mr. Stark. See that he’s treated better than how the public treats him half the time. Or even his own team. I’m convinced they never appreciated him, which makes sense as to why he’d leave it all behind. Now as I’ve said, he is an ocelot and he’s proven to be quite fierce. So if you’re looking for an easy pet, I’m afraid he isn’t the one for you. He’s shown to enjoy climbing trees. He’s quite the meat-eater of course. And he does have a temper. He can be quite hard to handle, but you can’t deny he isn’t beautiful. Why look at that coat.”

He paused, letting them soak it all in.

“Oh yes. This particular ocelot hybrid will be quite the exquisite addition to your home. Now, what will I have for a starting bid?”

Immediately people were on their feet.

“Eleven thousand!”

“Twelve thousand!”

“One hundred thousand!”

As the numbers climbed, Tony continued to pace. His heart was pounding. he looked at that eager crowd and just felt sick. Couldn’t they realize the truth when they heard who he was? Why didn’t someone stop this? Why didn’t someone tell them this was wrong? He was Tony Stark, and he’d never retire to a life like this.

Or had he?

No. He hadn’t. He had another life. A better one. He hissed at the idea of one of these human trying to claim him. He was no one’s pet. He was a free creature who deserved to roam through a nice forest, with nice rodents to hunt. He could go for such a creature now as he felt his tummy rumble with hunger.

“Ten million dollars!”

The crowd seemed to quiet at the number given by an average looking brown haired man.

“Ten million, do I hear eleven?” Whitmore cried. “No? Ten million going once, twice…sold!”

Tony looked around as the audience applauded the man who gave nods of appreciation. He could tell some of the people applauding weren’t happy with the way this went.

“Sell him to me!” someone shouted. “I’ll make payments for him.”

“Can I come by and see him sometime?” another asked.

Whitmore grinned at the desperation of some of his guests. In this case, it did make a difference in revealing the identity as it seemed they were more interested in owning Tony Stark than an ocelot hybrid. He thought back to the moment of seeing Tony at the previous auction. He was sure the man had seen one of his pets get auctioned off before running off to break-into his office, and he found it quite delightful that Tony had found himself in the same situation he tried to stop.

He glanced down at Tony who had turned to him, hissing.

“I told you I’d make a fortune off of you.”

The lucky buyer made his way forward and stepped onto the stage.

“Mr. Whitmore,” he greeted as he extended a hand. Whitmore shook it.

“Congratulations. You’ve got quite the purchase with Tony Stark. It’s like receiving the gold medal.”

“Yes, I’ve been quite a fan of Mr. Stark, but really it didn’t matter who he was. This ocelot is quite beautiful.”

The man stared down at Tony with a great fondness in his eyes even though Tony displayed his obvious hate for the man.

“Oh, you’ve had experience with ocelots?”

“I’ve always loved that particular cat. Always wanted to get my hands on one but never could.”

“Well today’s your lucky day. He’ll be tricky to handle though. I suggest a nice iron cage for his safety and yours.”

“Thank you.”

“If you’d like, I could have my men set it up for you. Create a nice habitat for your pet to enjoy.”

“I’ve already taken care of that, in the hopes that I would get such a cat, or at least as close to an ocelot as I could get.”

“Excellent. I’m sure he’ll love it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In keeping with the author's prompt, Tony is sold. There had been an option for the Avengers to be there, but the society is kept so far underground that they wouldn't know in time. Tony didn't even know. Now he's sold and it's possibly on him to find a way out, if he can hold onto his human mind.  
> Always keep tags in mind. This was a dark prompt I'd wrote for so I wouldn't expect fluffiness.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is sold, meanwhile a certain someone is worried.

Whitmore grinned and looked at Tony, pleased to have the man out of his hair. He had no fear of being found out through the Avengers searching for answers. All information about the hybrids and purchases were a well-kept secret. But in this case, since it was the famous Tony Stark, he figured it might be best not to have a record of it, just in case.

He turned to Tony again just as two of his guards came forward to wheel him away.

“Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Stark. Good luck with your new life.”

 

With clicking heels, Pepper headed towards her car after leaving the office. It had been hectic without Tony, and now there was the fear that someone else would have to take over the company if he never came back. Pepper couldn’t imagine herself doing it. She couldn’t imagine life without him regardless of how the company was doing.

“Ah, Pepper?”

She looked around to see Steve approaching her. 

“Oh Steve. How are you?”

“I should be asking you that.”

She pulled up a hopeful smile.

“I’m okay.”

Steve didn’t look convinced.

“You know, the team is doing everything they can to find him. It’s gonna take some time, but I know we’ll get him back.”

Pepper wished she could believe it, but she felt her hopes falling more and more every day he was gone. Nonetheless, she place a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

“I know.”

She unlocked her car and got in, but before she could shut the door, Steve grabbed it.

“Pepper, look. I know it’s hard to believe, but I have faith. Why don’t you?”

“Who says I don’t?” she asked with an angered tone.

“I get the feeling that you don’t. And I understand. But I’d like to know why.”

She sighed and looked away from him before answering. 

“I don’t know why. I guess, it just doesn’t feel like the last time he was gone. It feels worse and I don’t know why. Or maybe it’s just because things are so hectic at work. If Tony’s not back soon, I don’t know what will happen.”

Steve frowned as he considered her words.

“Well, whatever’s happened to Tony may not be like last time, but I believe Tony’s still alive. If anything he’ll figure a way out before we can get to him. It just may take a little longer.”

This time there was a genuine smile on her lips.

“Thanks Steve. Say, why don’t you round up the rest of the team and come by for dinner. Help us all clear our heads a little.”

“Are you sure it won’t be too much trouble for you?”

“No. I’d really appreciate the company and the work of prepping a big meal. Besides I rarely cook, which may or may not be a good thing.”

Steve gave a light chuckle.

“I’m sure it’ll be great. Yeah. I’ll gather the guys together and we’ll come by.”

A genuine smile broke across her face, and a great feeling of relief filled her.

“Great. See you then.”

 

She had no idea what she was going to make. Off the top of her head she had simply decided to grab a large chicken for a nice casserole, some potatoes for scalloping, a good mix of fresh veggies, and the ingredients for whipping up some rolls. 

Normally Pepper was not one for cooking. She just never had the time, and she had become so used to Tony just ordering out for them. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t craft something edible together. Of course it was a lot of work preparing such a big meal alone for the team, but right now she appreciated any form of work that didn’t involve the company; for an added bonus, she was also helping the team who were breaking their backs trying to find Tony. How she had longed for a proper way to repay their efforts.

“Alright,” she told herself as she stood before the items in the kitchen. “Let’s get started.”

“Miss Potts, Mr. Rhodes is here to see you.”

“Thanks Jarvis.”

She left the kitchen in favor of greeting him. Once the door opened, she was greeted with the sight of a man who was doing a great impression of a person who wasn’t desperately missing his friend. Automatically she pulled him into a hug. The man let out a soft breath before speaking.

“Hey Pep. Heard about the dinner from Rogers.”

“I’m glad you could make it.”

He gave a smile and nodded. 

“Of course.”

“Well, I was just about to start, so, make yourself comfortable.”

“Ah, if you’d like, I can help out. I do dabble in the kitchen so I won’t burn this place down,” he said with a grin.

“No I think I can handle myself.”

He nodded and Pepper turned. Then she stopped and turned to face Rhodey just as he was about to settle down on the couch.

“You know what, I think I could use a hand.”

“Ready to follow your orders ma’am.” 

He saluted, causing her to crack a smile, then followed her into the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is brought to his new home

“You’re going to enjoy your new home, I just know it.”

Tony growled at this new human and flicked his tail. He bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes, but the human only smiled at him. He didn’t need the human’s home because he had his own. True, he couldn’t remember it properly but he knew it existed. What he did recall about it was that it was big, and there were all kinds of things in it. Things he, couldn’t wrap his head around properly, but they were his and that’s what mattered.

“Come now Mr. Stark, don’t be cross with me. Give it a chance.”

The man stepped aside as two other men came forward. Tony turned his growls to them but they paid him no mind as they moved behind his cage.

“Where do you want him?” one of the men asked.

“This way.”

They proceeded to follow Tony’s new owner as they pushed the cage along. It was then and only then did Tony bother to really look at his surroundings. Tall palm trees rested against a nice brick house that wasn’t too big nor too small. As he was being wheeled along the pavement toward the front door, a strange memory surfaced in which he saw himself walking, as a human would, toward the double doors of a home much larger and nicer than this one. 

It made him choke and shiver, and then the shivering got worse when he imagined the interior. 

It was not like this human’s interior at all. The inside was rather plain and uninteresting. Just a dark hallway with pictures hanging. The furnishing didn’t appear very expensive, and Tony remembered expensive. He remembered some of the expensive things furnishing his living room. He could see it all clearly. He could even see…weird mechanical things roaming around it.

With a sudden heaviness in his heart, one word came to mind.

_‘Bots’_

He began to pace in the still moving cage. 

_‘Bots’_

He had liked his bots. He had liked them, along with the other humans that used to roam in his home. He saw the red headed female he remembered as Pepper, and a male he recalled was Rhodey. There were others as well, others that made the heaviness in his heart grow.

Tony, without realizing it, was whimpering softly as his fur raised.

“Don’t worry my pet,” the man said gently as he turned back to look at him. “We’re almost there, and you’ll soon be out of that cage.”

 _‘No’_ , he thought sadly. He couldn’t think how to vocalize it at the moment, and he couldn’t even if he wanted to because he couldn’t stop whimpering. _‘No’_. 

This really wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be in this home. He should be in the one he could see in his head. That was where he was sure he belonged. At least it felt like he belonged there anyways.

 _‘Home,’_ he thought desperately as his pacing became more erratic. _‘Home…home…home…Home!’_

“Here we are.”

The men brought the cage to a stop and Tony stopped pacing in favor of seeing what had happened.

Right before him, was what looked like a piece of a jungle crammed into a large room. Looking past the bars that enclosed it, he saw trees with long branches, tall grass and thick foliage good for hiding, and a cave like structure in the corner.

There were also human items like a tire hanging from a rope on a tree, and a large blue ball just waiting for him to pounce on. 

It looked so inviting, so safe, that his anxiety all but dropped. The home he’d had in the past was a forgotten memory as he paced and twitched his tail with interest. The man opened the door to the room, and the men pushing the cage pushed it right up to the opening. One of the men came forward, but hesitated when he made to reach for the lock.

“Don’t worry,” Tony’s new owner announced. “I believe it’s safe enough to let him out.”

“That’s because you aren’t the one doing it.”

But the man unlocked the cage anyway. Tony backed away and gave a warning hiss as the cage door was opened. 

“Go on,” Tony’s owner encouraged. “This is your new home.”

Tony turned to him and hissed as well. No one was going to tell him what to do. But when he looked at the room before him, he couldn’t deny the desire to explore it.

While holding back the anger of it all, he hesitantly took a step forward. Tony sniffed, catching the beautiful scents of the makeshift jungle. It wasn’t like the room he’d been in with all those other humans. There was actually earth beneath his paws as he moved further in. Such a feeling spiked his interest and he hurried inside. He didn’t even notice the door clicking closed behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first created this fic on another site, I basically ended it here as the site was shutting down and I felt interest in the fic dropped. I do hope to keep adding more to properly finish it off. We'll see how it goes.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets acquainted with his new home and owner

Tony suspected a trick, even though he couldn’t figure out why he would. He couldn’t trust the other humans, so there was no reason for him to trust this new one. But so far he didn’t see any sign of it as he patted slowly around the new environment.

The earth felt so great that he actually dug at it a little, relishing the feel and how easily he could move it with his claws. Next he turned to the grass, sniffing at the sweetness. He raised his head and looked at the tire hanging from the tree next to him. After giving it an experimental bat with his paw, he jumped aside, hissing as it swung toward him. 

“No need to fear my pet,” said his owner. “It’s there for your entertainment.”

_‘Enter-tainment?’_

The word was familiar. For some reason it made him think of the bots again, along with large wheeled objects crammed together in a room. They were cars if he recalled correctly, and he could see himself working underneath one. The thought led him to think of Pepper, and that ruined the moment of calmness he was having.

With a snarl, he leaped onto the swinging tire, digging his claws into it and biting it fiercely as if it was the cause of his sudden confusion and misery. 

The owner turned to the deliverymen. 

“I’ll take it from here. Thanks for your help.”

“Good luck,” one of the men offered, before wheeling Tony’s previous cage out of the room.

The owner turned toward Tony just as he took notice of the locked door. 

He jumped from the tire and began clawing and biting at the lock.

 _‘No’_ It wasn’t good to be locked up. _‘No…no…NO!’_

“Mr. Stark, don’t be that way,” his owner said as he crouched down in front of the snarling beast. “You’ll just get yourself even more upset. I know you’re scared, but I promise you’re safe. True, I’m keeping you locked up, but I do have my safety to think about. Yours too.” 

Tony stopped biting at the door and stared the man in the eyes. He gave a loud hiss, revealing his fangs. 

“Maybe introductions are in order,” he said. “My name’s Robert Madson. And you are Tony Stark, as you know.”

Tony hissed and took a step back.

_‘Tony…I’m, Tony…Stark…’_

He could see the name on papers; hear people say it as they smiled at him. He felt himself getting happy at the name, then there was concern and fear, and other things that were complicated. It made him agitated, so he started to pace as the name kept ringing in his head.

“Even though you’re not that Tony Stark anymore, I see no reason to change the name. What matters is what you are, and where you are. So why don’t you look around. Isn’t this a much nicer place to be than where you were?”

Tony stopped pacing and followed Robert’s advice by taking in his surroundings a second time. The troubling emotions he was feeling was dissipating. 

As he stood in place, his owner was able to get a nice close view of his beautiful spotted coat. His stance was quite elegant and proud. The ears were pitched forward in curiosity as his tail swished back and forth. The owner could see the cat clearly, but he could also see the man he had been. With his handsome human features combined with the remarkable ocelot, he made for a stunning creature. 

“Beautiful,” he muttered in awe. Tony took a few steps in the direction of the cave. He started growling.

_‘Bad…bad’_

Something about the cave wasn’t right. Somehow he recalled being in one and suffering terribly. The thought spooked him so much he back-peddled and jumped up the tree with the tire, hissing.

“I bet you’re hungry,” the owner guessed. He quickly moved off to get him some food.

Tony stared at the cave from his resting spot on the high branch. He partially wished he could remember why the cave bothered him so much, but at the same time he couldn’t understand why it mattered. Caves were supposed to be good things.

Annoyed with his feelings he turned away and looked past the bars. It was an average living room, nice enough for the human. He found it a little interesting, but not as interesting as where he already was. As much as it annoyed him, he felt the human was right. That this was a nicer place to be.

He rested his chin on his paws and didn’t bother to think further about his predicament. What sense was there to go ballistic when it felt so comforting and…homey?

 

A moment later his owner returned with a silver bowl. Tony was immediately interested as his nose instantly took in the scent of fish. The owner set the bowl down near a small horizontal slot made into the bars on the floor. Tony jumped down, ready to both snatch up the food as well as claw at his hands. 

Robert, however, didn’t use his hands. Instead he took a nearby pole and pushed it through to avoid injury. Tony wasn’t surprised at the precaution he took since the other humans had done the same.

“When you’re thirsty, there’s a water bottle hooked up right over there.”

He pointed further down, but Tony took no interest as he was far more interested in consuming the pieces of fish. The tension he’d felt a minute ago was gone.

Robert smiled as he watched the hybrid eat.

“You were used to the best Mr. Stark, when you were human. And I intend to keep that going with the finest foods that you can consume.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robert hopes to settle Tony in, but will it be easy? Knowing Tony, probably not.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony struggles with his new environment

Robert expected to get a wild creature when he made the winning bid for him. The beautiful creature had been snarling as he paced in the cage on stage, and of course Whitmore had warned of the hybrid’s wildness. Knowing that much, Robert wasn’t frustrated after a week of watching an angry ocelot human hybrid pace around in the jungle enclosure.

Every now and then he’d jump at the bars or flat out bite them.

Ocelots of course were wild, but this wasn’t an average ocelot. On top of that, he was Tony Stark. Robert didn’t know much about the celebrity as he’d never fully kept up with celebrities in general, but he assumed the man had had some aggression in his past life, which meant that it carried over to his new cat form. Robert hoped he would be able to settle down eventually; at least enough to where he could have peace of mind.

“Mr. Stark, won’t you please give this place a chance?”

Tony ignored him in favor of jumping at the bars and reaching a paw through to scratch him. Robert kept enough distance from him as he sat in an armchair before the enclosure, yet he wished he didn’t have to. Despite his wild nature, he hoped to one day be able to pet him.

“Alright. I get it.”

When Tony had had enough of jumping at the bars, he turned and looked at the large blue ball in the corner. He pounced on the thing, hissing as he rolled him off. It didn’t deter him as he went for it again. 

“I suppose that’s some progress,” Robert assumed.

 

Pepper rolled over in her bed with a sigh. Sleep wasn’t coming easy any longer. Not even pills helped. Frustrated, she sat up in bed.

“Jarvis, the lights.”

He turned them on for her.

“Is there anything I could get you Ms. Potts? I can share a few recommendations if you’re having trouble.”

“No thanks. The only thing that would help is getting Tony back.”

She thought back to the dinner she’d had with the team. The conversation had been relaxing and offered a nice break from the constant stress. The feeligns had long faded, particularly since the team were still having so much trouble finding him.

She looked at the unoccupied side of her bed and ran her hand over it.

“Come home Tony.”

 

Tony was currently standing at the edge of the cave. From where he stood, it didn’t seem all that deep, yet the darkness of the interior suggested otherwise. He gave a few growls and started to pace in front of it, tail swishing. Something was telling him to go in yet another side was warning him to stay out. 

He shifted his gaze out into the living room. Robert wasn’t around at the moment, not that it meant anything. The only thing it gave him was a private chance to escape again, but he was growing tired of chewing and clawing at the bars. Aside from that, he didn’t feel a strong reason to leave the place. As annoyed as he’d been at being behind bars, he'd come to like this territory.

He’d explored every region of it, growing more and more accustomed to it day by day. All that was left to explore was the cave. His nose twitched to take in the scent. If there was anything wrong with it, he couldn’t tell by smell. With a low grumble, he took a step forward.

His thoughts suddenly shifted to a human. And older human. 

_‘Yin…Yin…Yinsen’_

The anger was back, but this time peppered with sorrow.

_‘No…hurt…pain.’_

He heard angry human voices. He felt himself running. There was flashes of fire…gunfire. So real was the sound and sight of it in his mind’s eye, he immediately turned and leapt up the tree and sat, trembling. Tony looked to the door and raced down the tree toward it. Without thinking about it, he went to clawing and biting at it desperately. He had to get out. He had to get away from the cave.

Just out of sight, watching from behind a wall was Robert. 

He had seen Tony take an interest in the cave, and even attempt to take an inside view of it. But then he panicked, and the way he was going against the door made his heart sink.

“Oh my pet. What’s wrong?” He knew it would take some time for Tony to get comfortable, but he had assumed the little piece of a jungle would make it alright. “What can I do to make you happy?”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert attempts to ease Tony's fears

Robert took a sip of his coffee as he read through an article on Tony Stark on his laptop. He had several other tabs opened, all expressing some facet of Tony’s life, whether it be biographies, interviews, or video clips. He knew a lot about ocelots, but when it came to the unique Tony Stark, his knowledge was limited. He didn’t care to retain everything he’d read as the Tony he had was no longer the Tony Stark he was reading up on. Still, he knew some of his personality had to be in the cat, and if he was going to better enrich his life he had to understand his troubles.

One strong fact he took from his reading was about his time in Afghanistan. It made him come to understand why he’d freaked at the cave he placed in his environment. The guilt he felt about it was immediate. 

“Oh my pet, I’m so sorry,” he muttered as he viewed the pages detailing the horrible people that had tortured or made a fatal attempt on his life. “You’ve had it so hard as a human. It’s unfair. No wonder you wanted to hide from the world and retire to a new life. Constantly hassled, used, and harmed. But no more. I’m going to make sure no one ever hurts you again.”

His pet deserved a comfortable life, and Robert was going to make sure he got it.

The next day, Robert switched up his search from Tony Stark to something he hoped he’d find better comfort in than the current cave. 

 

A week later Tony was pacing and hissing as he watched Robert fiddle with darts in a rifle.

“I don’t want to have to do this,” he told him. “But, I don’t exactly expect you to sit calmly while I do what has to be done. On top of that, you’re overdue for a shower.”

Tony growled low, then threw himself at the bars as if to demonstrate what he already knew. Robert raised the rifle, taking careful aim. Once Tony dropped back down to all fours, he pulled the trigger, causing the dart to hit him in the side. The hybrid yowled in rage and jumped at the bars again. He snuck a paw between them, desiring to claw into his owner’s skin. Robert sighed as he settled down in the armchair to wait.

“I hope this helps you have a little more trust in me.”

Tony dropped back onto all fours again, giving an ocelot’s version of a glare as he stared him down, hating the human.

_‘Bastard…bastard’_

Though the man appeared regretful, Tony didn’t buy it. He’d felt this kind of pinch in his side, and was familiar with the oncoming dizziness as the room faded. A deep growl rumbled in his throat. Then he did something he hadn’t thought to do in a while. He wanted this human to know exactly what he thought of him, so he tried to work out how to voice it.

He had cursed the past human that had hurt him before, but accessing the voice that a human could understand was a difficult and confusing process. Still he tried. His whiskers twitched as he tried to work his mouth to say it. Robert leaned forward, intrigued by what Tony was doing. A raspy sound started to make its way up Tony’s throat, and while that was occurring, he focused on the sound of the letter B.

“Ba…Bah…”

The darkness was approaching. He needed to master this quickly. 

Tony placed one paw forward, willing the darkness away. It would have been so much easier to jump at him even if the enclosure kept them separated.

_‘Do it…do…it’_

“Bas…”

But everything spun too much. As the human quirked his brow in confusion, Tony wavered and fell to his side, unable to tell him what he thought of him.

 

Tony groaned as consciousness greeted him. He blinked his eyes a few times and kept his gaze forward. The human was no longer in the armchair. He was relieved, but also irritated not to see him. He rolled off of his side and immediately caught a few new scents. The first was himself. He sniffed the length of his front leg then his back leg, discovering an interesting faint smell that was almost sweet. He turned in a tight circle as he found himself glued to his own coat which seemed a little shinier than before and definitely cleaner.

He growled at the thought of the human cleaning him when he was perfectly capable of cleaning himself, and to prove this he sat down and ran a tongue over his back leg, nicely getting his fur in place the way he liked. After that he turned to the other scent, looking in the direction of the cave; or rather, where the cave used to be.

In its place was a bone white structure similar to the cave, except that it appeared to have been constructed with thick twisting branches that wasn’t exactly tree-like. He took a step forward and noticed that the way it was formed allowed more light to pass through. It seemed a lot more airy and less claustrophobic than the original cave had been. The best thing about it was that he didn’t feel much anxiety from the sight of it. Had the human really made it for him, or had the cave somehow transformed? For a brief minute, he saw himself, working with human hands, to build something large, heavy, and shiny red. He didn’t quite understand the memory, but it confirmed that some things were built by humans. 

Tony looked out into the living room, but didn’t see a sign of his human. Normally it pissed him off to think about him; to think about being trapped and owned. But here was a sign that perhaps the human might not be as horrible as previous humans. This one had cleaned him and even given him a new little home. He took another step toward the white cave, sniffing at the entrance. Again he couldn’t sense any trickery, so he took a risk and slowly wandered inside.

When Robert returned later that day, he smiled at not seeing Tony in the tree. Instead he noticed the spots of his coat peeking through the openings in his little home.

“Mr. Stark? My pet,” he called.

As if to respond to his calls, Tony stepped out of the cave and looked at him. He twitched his nose and an ear, then gave a little huff. Robert just grinned.

“I see you’re enjoying your new home.”

Tony gave a little hiss but had no energy to put enough anger in it, nor did he feel like trying to attack him. He had had a nice nap in his new cave, and right now all he could think was that he had this human to thank for it.

_‘Humans…bad…they’re bad,’_

He didn’t recall having a good relationship with a human, at the same time he did.

 _‘No!’_ he thought viciously, _‘I’m…I’m human…’_

He shouldn’t be enjoying this cave when he didn’t belong in it, and yet he wanted to like it. He wanted to take comfort in the moment.

“If you’re feeling a little calmer, I’ll go get your lunch.”

Tony sat and watched as he walked away. While he was considering the idea that not all humans were bad, he considered trying to find a way to use him to escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robert's kindness is conflicting Tony.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends consider a suspect, meanwhile Tony tries to earn trust

With slumped shoulders, Rhodes walked into a bar and ordered a scotch. He slumped onto the stool just as the bartender rested the glass on a napkin in front of him. Rhodes wasted no time in downing it then ordering another.

The many weeks of not finding Tony was weighing on him greatly. He had hoped it would be like the first time Tony had disappeared, when the man had managed to form his own escape and find them. For all he knew Tony was doing such a thing, but right now it felt like it was taking too long.

He glanced up and noticed a tv hanging on the corner wall, featuring a news anchor who was currently talking about the Avengers’ attempt to find his friend. 

“Hey, will you turn that up a little?” he asked the bartender.

The bartender adjusted the volume just enough for Rhodes to hear an interviewee’s opinion on the matter.

“This is a publicity stunt, nothing more. Tony Stark is known for pulling off wild ideas just to get a reaction. I bet you he’s laid up on some beach somewhere enjoying the coverage this is getting.”

“Why do you say that?” asked the interviewer.

“Because a guy like him can’t possibly stand the idea of Wendell Whitmore taking his place. He wants the spotlight back on him.”

“Jesus, turn it off,” Rhodes said bitterly. The bartender reached up and muted the tv. Skepticism, when it came to Tony, wasn’t surprising to him, but it was still hard to hear.

He opted to check his phone instead, and found a few headlines that were insisting Tony Stark was already dead.

“He’s not dead you sons of bitches,” he growled.

“Hey.”

He looked up to see Bruce had suddenly appeared next to him. Rhodes offered him the best smile he could.

“You’re a welcome sight, especially when your other half reflects what’s going on in me.” He took a long sip of his scotch. 

“I’d love nothing more than to turn green right now,” Bruce said as he settled on a stool. “It’s not often I feel that way.” He turned to the approaching bartender. “I’ll have the same as him.”

Rhodes made a noise of agreement, then glanced up at the tv again. This time a reporter was talking to Mr. Whitmore.

“Hey, turn it back up.”

The bartender adjusted the volume just in time for him to hear his closing remarks on the Stark case.

“…great hero. He was a good man that I wish I had a chance to know.”

“Does this mean that you believe Mr. Stark is no longer alive?” asked the reporter.

“I believe Mr. Stark has had a tendency to fall into rather dangerous situations, being he was Iron man, but he’s always been strong. He’s always managed to survive. And right now the thing to do is to put our faith in his team’s efforts. When they bring him home, I will be happy to be one of the first to welcome him back. We just need to remember his strength and hold onto the proud man he is. I’m sure he wouldn’t want us to worry about him.”

Rhodes stared at the man hard until the news cut to another topic, pulling him from the scene. 

“Bruce, I know we gave Whitmore a glance, but maybe we should look a little harder.”

The man nodded and sighed.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” he replied, as the grip he had on his glass became so tight it shattered. 

 

Tony twitched and groaned as he laid on his side in a deep sleep. 

He was flying. Flying through the sky as things blew up and fell apart around him. There were things dropping from the sky; strange animal like things that had humans down below running around scared. He saw himself landing next to a certain group of humans who all seemed ready for the fight. One didn’t seem human as it was huge and green.

He twitched his whiskered cheek but didn’t wake as the dream continued.

He was fighting these strange things from the sky alongside these humans. He was scared, but determined. Then he saw himself heading up into darkness. The image of the red headed woman, Pepper, came to his mind before he snapped his eyes open.

Tony jumped up, whimpering slightly. As he decided to pace it off he began to hiss. 

What were these strange dreams? More importantly why didn’t they feel like dreams?

Suddenly he was longing for the people he’d seen. He stopped pacing and rested his head against the bars.

 _‘Humans’_ he thought desperately. _‘Friends…my friends?’_

With a growl, he shook his head, then turned and dashed up the tree. He couldn’t understand why he longed for such people. He supposed it had to do with his sudden interest in escaping. And that made him wonder if an escape would lead him to such people. 

“Hello my pet?” Robert greeted as he appeared around the corner with his breakfast. “Did you have a nice sleep?”

Tony gave just a small hiss in reply. He watched Robert sit the dish down near the opening. This time Tony refrained from jumping down to quickly scratch at him. 

“I take it you’re a little calmer today,” Robert said as he noticed this change. “That’s good. It’s progress.”

Despite the annoyance he felt, Tony wandered down calmly and went up to his food. He made eye contact with his owner before diving in. Robert liked him calm and tame, so naturally it was the trick to use. Robert settled back in the armchair, watching him eat. Tony felt a little irritated by it, but forced himself to ignore it. 

When he finished eating, he met the human’s eyes again. Normally he would attack the bars in a meager attempt to reach him with his claws, but he opted not to do that. Instead, he turned and rubbed his cheek against it, followed by his whole body. Robert quirked a curious brow at him.

“What are you doing Mr. Stark?”

Tony made little groans that weren’t aggressive sounding in the least in the hopes that the man would see he posed no danger. After a few more minutes of this action, Tony stopped and looked at him, tail flicking slightly. Robert still looked confused, but then he smirked.

“Well this is new.”

A flutter of hope registered in Tony’s heart. The human was going to trust him now.

“I’ll have to read up on this,” Robert decided as he stood, then left the room.

Tony growled as his ears flattened.

_‘Damn…human.’_

It was clear to him now that it was going to take more than one day to gain his trust. Frustrated, he started to pace. He wanted this to happen now, but he supposed if he had to wait, he could. He stopped after realizing Robert wasn’t coming back any time soon. With nothing else to do, he jumped up the tree.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's next attempt at earning trust, leaves him with an unexpected feeling.

For the next couple of days, Tony bit down hard on controlling his frustration whenever he saw his owner. Often times he wanted to just jump at the bars, but instead he would rub up against them making comforting noises. Robert still seemed a bit confused by it, but little by little he started viewing it another way.

“Guess this means you’re happy to see me,” he said as he crouched down before him.

Tony stopped rubbing and quietly sat down while looking back at him. His tail swished in impatience. How long would it take before he trusted him? Robert smiled at him, then dropped his head. 

“You know, the world really misses you,” he started. “I know retiring to this life in secret is vital to your safety, as well as the Golden Rod’s security, but would it have been so risky to inform your friends? The Avengers I mean?”

Tony cocked his head. This was a new topic of conversation. Mostly the human would praise him. So far he hadn’t really talked about anything else. And what he was discussing was only confusing him more.

“I guess it would have been. You probably realized they wouldn’t understand this. Maybe they would’ve stopped you. Or maybe you were really forced to be part of the team. Were they really your friends? I don’t know. All I know is I’m glad you’re starting to get more comfortable here.”

Not knowing what to think, Tony ran his cheek along the bars again. Robert’s smile widened. He reached out his hand as he felt an urge to touch his cheek, but then he thought better of it.

“Mr. Stark? Mind if we fall on a first name basis? The way you’ve been behaving, I think we can start becoming friends. So I’ll call you Tony if you don’t mind.”

Tony stopped rubbing and stood, staring back at him hard.

_‘Tony…Tony…friends?’_

“We’ll be good friends,” Robert was saying.

_’Tony…human…friends’_

“It’s just you and me. I’ve always gotten on better with animals than people. In a way, I retired from life too. Of course I still work, and I’ve been hurt by people before. In that sense, we’re alike.”

After a little hiss, Tony started to pace as his mind started to reel. He recalled the faces of people that had hurt him in some way. It was distressing, yet the feeling was softened at the idea that this human might have experienced some of the same things he had. It was making him quite curious about his owner. 

Robert tossed his eyes over to a corner of the environment. 

“Alright. I think your home is in need of a cleanup.”

He stood and left the room. Minutes later he returned with the rifle and darts. Tony hissed at it fiercely.

“I’m sorry Tony. I can’t take the chance of you hurting me.”

The ocelot hybrid gave a growl before hurrying toward the cave. Robert was too fast and managed to shoot him on his flank. Tony gave a yowl, then decided to do something he’d never tried before, which was trying to reach for the dart and pull it out with his teeth. 

He turned and snapped at it, but before even a whisker could touch it, he was wobbling on his legs. A few minutes later, he was out on the ground. Robert sighed as he stared at the unconscious creature. He set the rifle aside, then walked over to a closet to fetch the much needed cleaning supplies. 

 

When Tony came to, his nose immediately informed him that there had been a change in his environment. He rolled up and took a moment to let his senses correct itself before he got up to explore what was different. He quickly came to realize there had been a slight cleanup in which his waste had been removed. The bars were cleaned and his water bottle refilled. Aside from that, a thick knotted rope and a small, fuzzy, almost humanoid creature had been placed near the tree.

Tony’s tail flicked as he crouched into a hunting position, eyes trained on the little creature. So far it wasn’t moving, and it didn’t carry any specific scent. His hackles rose, then he pounced. He exerted a little more energy than necessary as he ended up rolling over with the creature in his mouth.

_‘What is…this?’_

The odd scentless creature didn’t put up a struggle. He released it and watched as it tumbled over.

_‘A toy.’_

Tony hissed at the idea of needing such a toy. He recalled having better toys long ago; toys that were much more complicated than this.

Feeling insulted, he stood and turned away. But then he glanced back. It had felt good to bite into something soft for a change. On the whole, it was a safer way to vent off anger than attacking the bars. So Tony faced the little humanoid toy. He hissed fiercely, then pounced on it again. He acknowledged that he may be too old for such a thing, but at the moment he didn’t care. Biting and pawing it around proved to be fun.

Robert walked into the room and chuckled as he watched Tony play with it. Tony paused to look at him, then went back to the toy.

“I see you’re enjoying yourself. Might be a good way to keep you distracted whenever I have to do a cleanup.”

Tony flicked his ears then looked at his owner. He assumed he was considering not using the darts anymore, which he strongly hoped was the case. The human was starting, or at least willing, to trust him. As a way to prove this was the right idea, Tony dropped the toy and rubbed up against the bars. Then he froze with his furry cheek properly exposed between the bars, doing his best to keep himself calm without showing any sign of aggression.

Robert considered the ocelot, then warily took a step closer. He stood in reaching distance of his claws, but Tony didn’t make a move to claw at him. This encouraged Robert to stretch out a nervous hand toward that cheek.

He tensed, waiting for Tony to just swing around and bite off his fingers. He knew what he was doing was a stupid move, but he so greatly desired to make contact with his pet. Ever so gently, he touched it with two fingers and gave it a few strokes. The moment actually excited him, even more so when Tony closed his eyes and emitted a near purr like growl. 

“You like that Tony?”

Feeling brave, Robert moved his fingers higher until he reached the top of his head. Tony allowed a minute of it before walking away and jumping up the tree. 

“Well, progress. Thank you for that Tony,” he said, grinning. Tony cocked his head at him, curious. There was something about his grateful expression that suggested to him that the human really needed that bit of contact. “I’ll get your lunch.”

Tony watched him leave and gave a soft whine. If he was honest with himself, the petting hadn’t been too bad.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony learns more about Robert, meanwhile Pepper visits a certain someone.

Tony was tense as he stood at the bars, waiting for his owner to appear. He was still having trouble allowing the man to pet him, at the same time he kind of looked forward to it. Either way, it was necessary to get the trust.

Robert appeared around the corner with a dish of his breakfast. The meat already had his stomach growling in anticipation. 

“Hello Tony,” he greeted happily. “How’s my pet this fine morning?”

No longer did he bother using the pole to slide the dish through the slot. Instead he used his hand, which was in clear range of Tony’s claws. Sometimes Tony wanted to claw at them, but forced himself to hold back. The idea passed anyway as soon as he drove his snout into his delicious meal. He hoped when he was freed he’d be able to find meat just as delicious as his owner had managed to provide. Robert grinned, then settled in the armchair to watch.

“I ever tell you I had a cat once?” Tony glanced up briefly as he ate. “A year before I decided to try my luck at Whitmore’s private club. Her name was Penny, short for Penelope. She was a beautiful Savannah. Kept me company, especially when I had some rough days. Sadly she became sick one day and…never got better. I blamed myself for it. Thought that when I walked her outdoors, she caught something.”

Tony stopped eating altogether and watched Robert run a hand over his brow as if stressed. The smile was gone, then it was back, forced, as he made eye contact with him. 

“I know you’d do best in a larger space than you have. It would also do to give you some outdoor time. I guess after losing Penny, I don’t want to take the chance of anything happening to you. It’s crazy out there, as you know, otherwise you wouldn’t have chosen this life.” 

_‘Chosen?’_

Somehow the word didn’t add up. And just as he thought on it further, he saw himself trying to fight against other humans who were trying to do him harm. There were other animal hybrids around him as well. He saw himself free a few from their cages, then he saw himself get hit with a dart that knocked him out.

He hissed angrily at the memory and turned back to his food. 

Once Tony was done, he licked his paws clean, then considered Robert. Quietly he moved close to the bars and rubbed his cheek against it, just as he’d been doing for a week now. It signaled for Robert to come forward and pet him. He scratched along his cheek and slowly worked his way up to his head. Tony was always determined not to take anything from the action, but the way his fingers worked his crown almost had him melting. 

“I hope soon you’ll allow me to brush that beautiful coat of yours,” Robert murmured. “Gotta keep you looking your best.”

Tony mewled and shut his eyes, then leaned in further to the petting. The tension he’d felt in anticipation of this moment was all but gone. 

 

Pepper fidgeted with slight nervousness as she sat in the waiting room. She looked at the receptionist who turned away before they could make eye contact. The deep frown on her face clearly informed Pepper that she viewed her as an un-welcomed guest. 

She sighed and turned to her phone for something to do. She hated how she kept checking news reports for updates on Tony. 

“Ms. Potts,” the receptionist called. “He will see you now. Just right through that door.”

Pepper offered her a smile before walking toward the office door. She kept the smile in place as she entered.

“Mr. Whitmore,” she greeted.

The man himself was smiling as he stood from behind his large oak desk, then walked around toward her. 

“Ms. Potts, I’m honored to meet you at last,” he said as he extended a hand, which she shook. “Please, have a seat.”

As Pepper moved toward the chair, she took in his rather extravagant office. To be honest, it was larger than Tony’s and appeared to have more of a homey feel to it. There were shelves of books, a few statues here and there, and a couple of palm trees nicely positioned in various areas. Then there were the many pictures on the wall, most of which showed Whitmore with some person of great importance or an exotic animal. 

“I’m sorry it’s taking us so long to meet,” he said as she seated herself. 

“Well the company does keep me busy.”

“Not just that,” he said as he took his seat behind his desk again. “You were Stark’s, so I suppose there wasn’t much of a reason for us to meet. And on that note I must say how sorry I am for whatever has become of Mr. Stark.”

“Thank you.” 

“It’s terrible. After all this time, you’d think the Avengers would have found something. But I suppose they are trying their best.”

Pepper’s lip trembled just slightly.

“Yes well, the best is all we can hope for.”

“Right, and I admire your strength during this hard time,” he said, sounding quite sincere. Then oddly enough, she noticed his eyes travel up and down her form in a way that didn’t read as sexual. Still, it made her feel quite vulnerable. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Pepper glanced down at her hands before looking at him again.

“The only thing I’d like from you, is an explanation as to why you contacted me.”

Whitmore grinned and leaned back in his seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally the death of Robert's cat was caused by a car, but since he got interested in ocelots, I felt Robert's past pets should be some wild cat breed. Upon reading a little about Savannah cats, it's stated they're not meant to roam freely outdoors. Either way, the passing of his pet expresses Robert's protectiveness of Tony. Meanwhile, Pepper and Whitmore's meeting is happening.  
> More soon :)


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes a bold move, meanwhile the team investigates

Tony growled at the thought of actually missing the petting. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy it. He was too good to take such pleasure from a human of all beings. Such pleasure should only come from other ocelot beings like himself. That was, if there were any.

As Robert petted him, Tony wondered about the chances of finding others like himself. Were they humans’ pets as well, or were they free outside the bars? It was all the more reason why he had to escape. 

“Anything wrong pet?” Robert asked upon hearing his growls. He stopped the petting immediately, causing Tony to give him a questioning look. “Oh, didn’t mean to stop.”

He continued to rub his head, which turned into scratches behind the ear that threatened to make Tony melt. Robert looked past him and took in his environment. It had been two weeks since he’d cleaned it. With a furrowed brow, he looked at the rifle nearby. He hated having to sedate his pet every time he needed to get into his cage. 

He sighed as he turned back to Tony. Right now he was quite calm. It had taken up to two months for Tony to even reach such a level of calmness. No longer did he throw himself at the bars and bite. Robert knew he would never not be a wild animal, but there was a side to him that was human. While it was true that he’d had tricky relationships with people in the past, he knew it was easier to gain a person’s trust than a wild ocelot’s. 

“Alright Tony,” he began slowly. He pulled his hand away from his head. “You trusted me enough to pet you, so I’m hoping you’ll trust me further.”

He grabbed a scooper he used to clean up his waste, then the rifle, and walked up to the cage door. Tony tensed as he watched him unlock it slowly. Robert barely took his eyes off of him. As Robert pried it open a little, Tony’s heart began to pound. He stood stock still as he opened the door further. Then carefully, Robert entered one foot in the enclosure, moving as slowly as possible. 

Tony was eager to pounce, but he held it in. This human was not prey. He was just…someone he needed to get on his side. 

“Good boy,” Robert praised quietly as he continued to ease his way inside. It occurred to Tony then that the past humans had never been able to get away with this with him. As soon as they produced a leg, he would have went for it. 

“Good boy. That’s a good boy. You just, stay as you are. You’re doing great…just great Tony.”

Robert was fully inside now, and it was taking everything in Tony to hold himself back.

_‘Don’t hurt him..don’t hurt him’_

“You’re doing great.”

_‘Not now…not now’_

Robert shifted the rifle, which earned a hiss from Tony.

“It’s okay Tony,” he assured him. “I’m not going to shoot you.”

Without looking away from Tony, he closed the door. He gave a shaky exhale as he sidestepped toward a pile of droppings. He knew it wouldn’t be possible to keep the rifle on Tony while scooping, so with much reluctance, and silently cursing himself for being stupid, he set it down nearby even though he knew Tony would be able to attack him before he could grab it anyways.

“I’m going to clean your home now Tony. I’m giving you all my trust. Please…don’t hurt me.”

Tony stared into the man’s eyes. He wasn’t surprised to see the sign of fear there, but he was surprised to see the strong hints of tenderness. Robert really cared about him. Tony took a step back to show he had no intention of attacking him. He even turned away from him completely and instead, attacked his humanoid toy. The pent up urge he’d had to pounce at Robert was released upon the toy, and Tony felt better for it.

“Good boy,” Robert praised, sounding relieved.

 

“This guy is as clean as a damn whistle,” said Clint as he looked over Bruce’s shoulder while he filtered through various files in paper form and on the computer. 

“Looks that way so far,” Bruce agreed. “Not even Jarvis could pick up anything.”

“There has to be something,” said Rhodes as he slumped into the couch. His nerves were on edge. A whole month of investigating Whitmore was proving useless so far. He looked across the room at Pepper who was clinging to a mug in her hands as she stared out the wide windows. “Pepper, go over it again. What did Whitmore want with you?”

“I already told you,” she said bitterly. “It was more like an attempt to put a stake in Stark industries. He seemed to believe that it would be quite the smart business deal for me to make. I informed him we were doing just fine.”

“That’s all it was? Business?” Rhodes questioned.

“And a chance to express his condolences for Tony. But really Rhodes, what else could he have in mind?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t like it.”

“A SHIELD agent was sent undercover to meet with Whitmore,” said Clint. “Microphones were planted, but so far we’ve got no leads.”

“We’re not giving up,” said Rhodes, upon seeing Pepper’s face. “We’ll keep trying.”

“And what if, it turns out we’re being as paranoid as Tony was?” asked Bruce. He swiveled around in his chair to face them all. “If Whitmore turns out to be clean?”

Rhodes groaned and sunk further in the couch.

“If he’s clean, I’ll send him the Iron Patriot suit, free of charge.”

 

Tony stared with sharp eyes as he stared at Robert. The man was turned away from him as he set to work cleaning about a corner of his environment. After three and half weeks of him entering his cage, Robert had found it was safe enough for him. Tony had never attacked, nor shown interest in attacking. He’d simply occupy himself with his toy or the tire. Often times he would laze about by the cave looking bored. It had been enough to convince the human that he was as tame as a pussycat now. On top of his negligence, Robert had gotten reckless when it came to locking the cage door. Tony made sure not to take notice of the fact that he could simply push it open and walk out. 

_‘Stupid human’_ he thought with an air of annoyance that surprised him. What did he care if he was reckless?

Then again, he supposed stupidity might not be the whole reason for blame. He recalled the story Robert told of his pet cat, and that much alone told Tony that Robert desired to get close to another pet; one that he could trust in such a way. With that speculation in mind, his heart felt a little heavy with guilt. He couldn’t be what the human desired. The human couldn’t trust him.

“You know, I think I’ll be getting a raise soon, and when I do I’ll be able to make this environment bigger.” Robert turned to face him with a smile. 

Tony twitch an ear, curious, then he curled his paws into the soft grass. It would be nice if his home was bigger. Then he growled at the thought.

_‘No…not home’_

He couldn’t stay here to experience a bigger place. He needed to escape, and today was the day he’d planned to do it.

“I’ll be losing home space, but anything’s worth it for you.”

Tony kept his eyes focused hard on Robert as he turned away again. He was currently pulling away a few weeds and preparing to plant in more grass. While staying low to the ground, Tony inched toward the door. 

“I want to be able to fit another trees in here. I bet you’ll like that.”

Tony just kept moving as he kept a wary eye on his owner. Only when he reached the door did he pull his eyes away. Freedom was just beyond that door, yet he couldn’t move his feet. He was surprised to find he was almost scared at the possibility of going through it.

“Tony? What are you-”

Tony was on him before he could finish the question; before he even realized what he was doing. 

The fangs were out and so were the claws as he pounced onto his body, immediately knocking him to the ground. Robert cried out as Tony’s claws sunk into his shoulders; as his teeth tore into the arm. Every form of frustration Tony had was unleashed. Robert made a weak attempt at protecting himself, but got nowhere. Annoyed, Tony released his arm and hissed viciously in his face. The man’s own blood flew from the ocelot hybrid’s mouth. 

Robert stared back at him in his helpless position, panting, whimpering, and bleeding horribly. His eyes were filled with intense fear. Never before had he looked at him that way, and it was then that Tony felt himself calming down. He realized that he was looking at a terrified man who had been nothing but kind to him. He wasn’t prey and he wasn’t the horrible humans that had done terrible things to him. He saw all the red covering his torn clothes. No longer was anger squeezing his heart. 

With a whine, Tony slowly got off of him feeling frightened. 

“T-tony,” Robert tried shakily. 

Tony turned away and looked at the door. Before Robert could say anything more, Tony flung it open and ran.

“TONY!”

He made a break for the hallway he recalled being brought down when he first arrived. Ahead was the door, but it was closed. There was no way he could open it. He had been lucky Robert had left his cage door opened since doors obviously required human hands. 

_‘Escape…Escape…Escape…ESCAPE!’_

He quickly glanced around and paused on the front window. Without thinking about it, he leaped and broke through the glass. 

He nearly landed on his feet, but toppled sideways as the jump through glass clearly did a number on him. 

_‘Escape…Escape! Escape now!’_

He shook himself off quickly and gathered his feet under him as he took off across the yard. Soon he was leaving Robert’s house far behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony has managed to escape! But will he find some form of freedom?


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's escape creates new troubles

So many new smells hit him as he ran. He didn’t have a real chance to take them in as he was so focused on running. He swiveled in and around trees while maintaining a strong pace, but as soon as a house came into his sights, he stopped and dove into a bush. He crouched down, panting hard as his mind worked to catch up with what he had just done.

_‘Free…I’m free!’_

He looked back in the direction of Robert’s house. The joy he was feeling dampened at the thought of his owner lying on the floor, bleeding. He sincerely hoped he hadn’t killed him. If he had, what would that make him? Humans killing humans wasn’t good.

 _‘No’_ , he thought fiercely, _‘not human…ocelot…ocelot’_

He had every right to hurt that human in self-defense. He should’ve known better than to try and own his kind. But then he thought of the wonderful meat he’d brought him every day, and the toys he’d had fun with. He had been a good human, at least good enough for him to tolerate. 

He looked ahead, taking in the few human houses peppered here and there as he realized it was now up to him to look after himself. He would find a nice cave to settle in, one next to some nice trees to climb. He would definitely need a place near some good prey. This was definitely his chance to hunt for the first time, being that none of the humans had given him a chance to snatch up his own food before. He could already sense some interesting animals in the area, but not many. Right now the area read as prominently human, and he feared the only thing he’d get here is another chance to get caught.

He hissed in annoyance, angered that that was all there was outside of his old environment. Why weren’t there more creatures? Why were there so many…humans?

_‘Humans?’_

His thoughts went to the mysterious people that had plagued his mind, including the red headed woman. He vaguely recalled he had a human home.

_‘I’m human…Tony…Tony Stark.’_

He wanted to speak then, but didn’t know what words to form. He growled as the frustration built, but he focused as hard as he could on at least one word.

”Peh…Peh…Pepor…Pepper.”

He needed to find this Pepper person.

Not certain where to even go to find her, he just took off again. 

 

Robert sat still on the floor of the cage, holding onto his bleeding arm. He was still in shock, unable to think of anything other than Tony. His heart was twisting, not with worry for himself, but for Tony. There wasn’t an ounce of anger in him for the attack. If anything there was anger directed at himself, for not doing enough to make his pet happy, as well as being stupid enough to trust him by entering his cage. But he had wanted Tony’s trust. He wanted his friendship.

He staggered to his feet, moaning in pain.

“Tony,” he muttered as he made his way out of the cage. He desperately wanted to track him down, but his wounds came first.

With one hand, he reached for his cell and dialed the Golden Rod’s number. After that, he dialed an extension for their medical department. Being a member, particularly a member owning a hybrid, he was forbidden from calling an ambulance or police for injuries related to his pet. 

“Hello…yes…my name’s Robert Madson.” He paused to catch his breath as he clutched his bleeding arm tighter while awkwardly holding the phone to his ear. “I need help…quick. My ocelot hybrid attacked me…I think he escaped! Send help…Hurry!”

Once he received assurance that help would arrive, he dropped the phone and staggered down the hall. There, he discovered the clear sign of Tony’s escape in the form of shattered glass. Robert stared at it, stunned and heartbroken.

He took a few steps forward, then sank to his knees and fell against the wall of the hallway.

“Tony…please, be okay.”

 

Whitmore grinned as he opened a file on his computer containing a very detailed drawing of a new ocelot hybrid, this one a female. He clicked open another file which showed it in color. She was beautiful, especially with the red hair running down her head and flowing neatly into the fur of her coat down her back.

“Beautiful,” he murmured. He leaned back in his chair and folded his fingers as he entertained the idea of the money he’d make off of her. 

His private phone suddenly rang, interrupting his thoughts. 

“Yes,” he grumbled into the phone, hating when his Sunday afternoons were interrupted at home. “What! I see…yes, send about ten. I’m on my way as well.”

He slammed the phone down, face scrunched up in barely contained rage.

“That idiot,” he growled. Of course he didn’t know how it had gone down, but when attacks from hybrids occurred, it was normally due to the handler’s negligence. But aside from Robert, his main concern was Tony’s escape.

 

Tony had a nice pace going, and he made sure to stick to any shrubs as he moved. So far he hadn’t seen any humans, nor had he seen any red headed female ones. And then he stopped as he caught the scent of something. He moved closer in the direction of it and caught sight of a small, hairless, brown animal.

_‘Pet, dog…dog’_

He couldn’t quite recall the breed, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t food. But then his stomach growled in want. He had been ignoring it for some time, intent on finding that red headed human. However, as the smell of that dog filled his nose, and as his stomach complained, the thought of that particular human wasn’t important right then. 

Why was he so intent on finding her anyways? He wasn’t human. Humans belong with other humans, and he belonged in the wild, hunting.

Tony edged closer to the little wandering dog, then crouched just out of sight of it. His tail twitched in anticipation. As soon as the dog trotted a little closer, Tony hurried forward. He wasn’t surprised to see that the dog had gotten the lead on him. Prey wasn’t supposed to have a hint that a predator was near, which informed him he had major work to do in that area. He growled, annoyed with himself, but concentrated on following the dog.

He supposed he was more tired and hurt after his escape as his potential prey was doing a good job in keeping some distance, but Tony was determined. 

With his eyes only on the dog, he paid no attention to where he was going. In that sense, he didn’t even notice the road he’d landed upon, nor did he hear the sound of a blaring car horn.   
Instead he felt pain; pain as the car rammed into his side knocking him off his feet.

The car screeched sideways, but righted itself to drive further along the road before stopping. A very surprised man took a moment to catch his breath, then turned to the woman in the passenger’s seat.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes,” she said shakily. “What was that?”

The man got out of his car and looked back just as Tony was struggling to get to his feet.

“Oh my god. What the hell is that? A leopard?”

Tony chanced a glance back at the man as darkness threatened to consume him, as his breathing became ragged. With as much strength as he could muster, he forced his legs under him and trotted as best he could back into the cover of the trees.

Tony just kept moving with his broken pace. He could smell his own blood, feel the agonizing pain in every step, but he kept pushing until he could push no more. Darkness came soon enough, and Tony crumpled to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Escape was never going to be easy for poor Tony, especially with his animal instincts pushing his human mind further back.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunt for Tony is in progress as Tony just tries to make it.

Robert sat miserably upon the couch as the medic finished up with him by wrapping a bandage around his stitched up arm. 

“I’m sorry for this,” he apologized.

“No need, this is our job,” she replied. “But in the future, I would recommend being more careful with a hybrid.”

Robert cringed as his thoughts shifted to Tony again. He glanced back into the environment where a couple of Whitmore’s workers were cleaning up his blood. Down the hall, he could see a few more working on replacing the broken window.

“Okay,” said the medic, “all done.”

“Thanks. Does this mean I can go look for Tony now?”

“Oh no. Leave that to the experts. It’s much too dangerous of a task for you.”

Robert looked to a corner of the room where a large group of Whitmore’s experts where gathering their supplies of catch poles and tranquilizer guns for the hunt of his pet. Robert feared Tony’s reaction to them if they weren’t able to sneak up on him. Several minutes later, he heard a car door slam. Robert looked to his already opened front door and saw Whitmore walking up the path accompanied by Gina. Right away, Robert noticed the barely contained anger under his expression.

“Mr. Madson,” Gina cried as she hurried past Whitmore to reach him. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright now,” he said quietly as he looked down at his bandaged wounds. He looked up as Whitmore hovered over him, and he couldn’t help shrinking in on himself a little. “I was stupid. I thought I could trust him enough to tidy up his environment without knocking him out. On top of that, I didn’t lock the door.”

Whitmore kept his eyes boring into Robert’s before he spoke.

“Idiot.”

“I know.”

“Do you have any idea of what this could do to the Golden Rod society if someone was to spot him, let alone catch him?! I have a business at stake. Your foolish actions puts me, all of us, at risk! One little slip up could lead to the discovery of this business, and once that happens, all of my poor members will be forced to part with their beloved pets, because I assure you people on the outside would not allow them to remain in their cozy homes. As a matter of fact, they most likely would not let them live!”

Robert swallowed heavily and did his best to hold back his emotions. He didn’t even want to think about Tony being found by anyone else other than himself or Whitmore’s people. 

“And what about poor Tony!” Gina added. “He’s out there all alone. He could get into trouble, or attack someone else.”

“I know, I know. It’s all I’m thinking about.” Robert sighed as he ran his hands nervously through his hair. He looked up at Whitmore pleadingly. “Please, you’ve got to find him! And please, bring him back alive. Bring him back to me.”

“After all this, what makes you think I can trust you with him again?” Whitmore asked. “Perhaps I should just take him back and sell him to a more responsible person.”

“No! I…I promise I won’t ever make a mistake like that again. I think part of the reason this happened was because he wasn’t happy enough here. But I’ll make him happy. I’ll extend the environment and never try what I did again.”

Whitmore observed him a little longer before one of the hunters walked up to him with a tranq gun in hand.

“Sir, we’re ready to scout the area.”

“Be on your way,” Whitmore ordered. The hunter turned to the others and together they headed out. Whitmore then turned back to Robert. “Alright Mr. Madson. I’ll give you one more chance with Mr. Stark, that is if we find him alive.”

Robert swallowed heavily again and turned to the abandoned environment. 

 

Tony slowly opened his eyes as the pain in his side greeted him. He moved carefully as he pulled himself up off his side. His head was spinning, and he was more confused than ever. 

_‘What?...prey…hurt?’_

He thought about the prey he’d been hunting and realized it was nowhere in sight. He worked his nose, but couldn’t catch a trace of it being near. His stomach grumbled angrily, but he had no energy to do anything about it. Right now he just wanted to rest and see about the pain. He turned his head back and licked his wound as he thought about the cause of it. 

Some large creature had rammed into him. He could only assume he’d gotten in its way or the creature was trying to stop him from getting his prey. But then he remembered a human coming out of it.

_‘Not a…creature…car’_

He’d been hit by a car.

Tony growled at his own recklessness as he tried to stand. His leg wobbled and he fell back down again. For a minute he just sat there, uncertain of what to do. He glanced up at the sky and wondered how much time it would be before it got dark. More importantly, he wondered what would happen to him in the dark. He didn’t have Robert to take care of him. He was on his own, just like he’d wanted, but the outside was just as difficult as his owner had warned. 

If there were more cars and humans everywhere, then surviving would be difficult. With an annoyed hiss, he decided the best thing he could probably do was find a cave until his wound healed. 

 

Whitmore’s hunters had spread throughout the neighborhood. If any civilian happened to spot them, they’d simply explain that they were dog catchers so as to avoid a panic. They didn’t carry any major equipment to draw major notice. A small tranq gun in their belts and a catch pole was enough. 

One hunter paused at the edge of a heavily treed area which was near a couple of homes. He pulled up his walkie after scouting the land.

“Area secure. Anyone else catch anything? Over.”

“Nothing yet. Over,” came a reply. 

The sky was starting to darken, but the hunters kept at it. 

Under the cover of a darkening sky, Tony was trudging slowly along while still using the bushes for cover. Soon he happened upon another human settlement which was about as large as Robert’s dwelling. Something about it made him feel the more advanced or rich humans lived in the area, but that did nothing to curve his fear of encountering them. 

He dropped his body down as the pain in his side throbbed. He was out in the open, but he couldn’t even manage to sneak himself behind the cover of foliage just yet. He needed to rest. He needed his body to stop hurting. He looked at his flank and saw the bleeding starting up again. 

_‘Not gonna make it’_

He didn’t see how he would get anywhere. On top of that, where was there to go? So far he’d seen no signs of any other ocelots like himself. He wasn’t even sure if that was what he’d been looking for before the hit. He knew he was going after that odd prey, but before that was fuzzy in his mind. 

Tony laid his head down on his paws and watched as a couple of humans exited the house. He growled at the sight of them. There was no safety here if there was nothing but humans around. And then suddenly, the red headed human female came to his mind. Following her were other mysterious faces. He couldn’t sense any danger from these humans, but he didn’t know who they were or what they had to do with him. Were they really good people? If so, why hadn’t they found him? Why hadn’t they come to help him find safety?

As Tony pondered the questions, one of Whitmore’s hunters had just zoned into the area where Tony was resting. He pulled up his walkie.

“I have eyes on the target. Looks injured.” He paused and glanced in the direction Tony was looking and saw the family he was watching. “He’s near people. I’m bringing him in before he can attack them. Over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like Tony's temporary freedom may be over, but he really is in need of medical help otherwise it would not be good for him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Robert and the team worry over Tony.

Tony gazed at the people near the house and slowly rose to his feet. He whined with the pain and hissed in annoyance that the pain stemmed from something human. As terrible as it was, it did make him realize that he had to get further into the environment and stay as far away from humans as possible.

_‘But…’_

Something bothered him about the decision, until he was able to fully hone in on it.

_‘Aren’t I…human?’_

A sudden sharp pain in his side ruined any further thought on the matter, especially when he saw the dart in his flank. He didn’t bother to try and pry it out since he had only failed the last time. He didn’t know if it was Robert or someone else that had done it, and he wasn’t going to wait to find out. As best he could, he attempted to run for it, back under the cover of the trees.

He could hear the footsteps of the person hurrying behind him. He growled as he was greeted with the familiar fuzziness of his vision. He was already tired, and the dart certainly wasn’t helping as he felt his legs desiring to give up. 

_‘No…No…escape…ESCAPE!’_

He wasn’t going to go back. He didn’t belong with people. He belonged in the wild. He growled at himself for trying to first locate the red headed woman as it seemed to have only lead to a path of danger. The darkness was closing in, and his body was becoming even more tired. The sound of the footsteps chasing him was getting closer. 

Tony gave a howl of rage. 

_‘ESCAPE!’_

He couldn’t pump his legs any further, especially when his side was in so much pain still. 

“I got him,” he heard the person behind him say.

Tony was too weak to turn around. Darkness encroached on him further as his legs gave out, and he plopped to the ground. The hunter following Tony stood over his unconscious form and stared down at him.

“Target is captured. I’m requesting a team to extract him and return him home. Over.”

 

Once Pepper walked into the kitchen, the first thing she took notice of was Rhodes who was seated at the table with an empty mug before him, and appearing to be a minute away from falling over.

“James, are you okay?”

He glanced up at her, looking as if confused by her arrival.

“Huh, oh, yeah I am.”

“Can I get you some more coffee?”

Rhodes looked into the empty mug.

“Please.”

Wordlessly Pepper walked over to the coffee maker and pulled out the decanter. She walked back to Rhodes who was now massaging his temples furiously. Halfway through pouring fresh coffee into his mug, he slammed his hand down hard on the table, making her jump.

“Damn it! There’s got to be something we’re missing. One little thing that could wrap up this whole case.”

Pepper set the decanter down and touched his shoulder.

“Hey. We’ll find it. We’ll find the clue we need, and we will bring Tony home.”

Rhodes studied her for a moment before dropping his head.

“I just hope we aren’t too late.”

A minute later, Clint and Natasha came wandering into the kitchen not looking nearly as stressed as Rhodes. 

“Good news guys,” Clint announced as he slapped his hands together. “We might have found a lead.”

Rhodes grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close.

“What lead? You better not be saying that to make me feel better. I mean it man.”

“Easy man. This is a good one.” Clint gently pried his fingers off of him. 

“What is it?” Pepper asked eagerly.

“One of our SHIELD agents captured a man whose been known to have dealings in poaching,” Natasha explained as she took a seat at the table. “They’re in the process of interrogating him, so we should learn more soon.”

“But, what does a poacher have to do with Tony?” Pepper asked.

Natasha smiled.

“Early investigating showed camera footage of the man interacting with Whitmore sometime in the past. Since we’re all still pretty suspicious of Whitmore having something to do with Tony’s disappearance, I say this is a good start.”

 

Robert had taken to pacing nervously in the center of the room and muttering under his breath. Whitmore, as well as a few of his workers, still occupied his home. All were waiting for Tony’s arrival after having been told that he was found. Robert came to a stop as he heard a vehicle come up. He immediately hurried to the door with Whitmore and Gina following. 

“Tony! Oh thank god!” Robert cried as he watched the hunters bring down the caged hybrid from the back of their truck. Then the relief switched to panic. “Oh god, he’s bleeding! His leg! What the hell did you do to him!”

Robert charged into the nearest hunter that had grabbed onto the cage.

“Back off!” he cried. “We didn’t do shit to this thing.”

“That’s right,” said the other hunter that held onto the other part of the cage. “I found him, already injured. Must have been hit by a car because there’s no animal big enough or stupid enough to try and tangle with him.”

Robert backed away as the anger made room for guilt and grief.

“Oh Tony…oh god…a car? It’s all my fault.” He watched helplessly as they pushed the cage into his house. 

Gina walked up to him then and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Mr. Madson. We’ll get him fixed up, and he’ll be as good as new. Just be grateful that he’s alive and that he’s back with you where he belongs.”

“Yes,” Whitmore agreed. He walked up to him as Gina departed to care for Tony. “We got off lucky this time.”

“Yes,” Robert agreed.

“But I warn you, if this ever happens again, I’ll take that ocelot and turn him into a rug for my living room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony's back where he started, but it seems the avengers are ready to follow a promising lead


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds comfort

Robert gently ran his hand through Tony’s fur as he petted him. His eyes lingered on his bandaged flank before they moved to his face. At the moment, Tony was in a state of unconsciousness and lying upon a soft set of blankets in his environment. A dish of water was nearby as was a plate of meat so he wouldn’t have to walk to get nourishment.

“I’m so sorry Tony,” Robert muttered as he got to his feet. “I don’t blame you for what happened. I guess it can be hard being cooped up in here. If I could afford it, or if I could win some favor with Whitmore, I’d move to a place where you could be safe outside. I just can’t have an enclosure like that here, but for your sake I’d do it. I think it would make you very happy.”

Tony gave a quiet moan in his sleep and unconsciously leaned into Robert’s petting. Not wanting to risk another possible attack, Robert quietly stood and walked out of the environment. This time he made sure to lock it.

“In the meantime, I’ll do my best for you,” Robert promised. “I’m going to protect you, at all cost.”

Tony stretched in his sleep and curled in on himself just slightly. Robert walked away to leave him to a peaceful nap.

 

“I still don’t see what exotic animals have to do with Tony.”

A couple of faces at the table in Fury’s office looked around at Steve.

“I have to agree,” said Clint. “At first I saw this as a great lead, but now, if Whitmore’s only crime is animal trafficking, then maybe this isn’t a lead.”

“It has to be something,” said Fury. He turned to look at the large screen on the wall ahead of the table, which showed the profile of the man SHIELD had been interrogating. The man on screen was bearded and thuggish in appearance. “Rork Kaye, as it turns out, has been responsible for providing Whitmore with several exotic animals. He’s flown under the radar until now of course.”

“But he hasn’t given us anything else,” Rhodes argued. “All you’ve gotten out of him is that the animals he’s taken makes good pets. It’s pretty clear Whitmore’s selling them, and this is a crime to be stopped, but our focus is on Tony.” 

“I can’t imagine how this would relate to Tony,” Steve began. “But let’s not forget, Tony was doing his own investigation of Whitmore. Maybe he found something more than poaching.”

“Maybe,” said Bruce thoughtfully. “If not, I don’t see the connection between animals and Tony’s disappearance.”

Rhodes furrowed his brow in thought.

“Maybe it’s not just Tony,” he announced. “There had been a few disappearances before him. Of course that was a matter for the cops, but…”

“Isn’t that a stretch?” asked Natasha. “People disappear due to various reasons. How can we assume it has something to do with Whitmore?”

“I don’t know.”

“Either way, we are going to continue this interrogation, until something more concrete comes along,” said Fury.

Rhodes balled his fist, frustrated.

 

Tony groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. Instantly he noticed the grass and the sight of a cave in the corner. He felt joy at the fact that he had actually made it to a cave, but then he felt it fade as he realized how familiar it looked and smelled. He shifted, then whined as he felt the pain in his side. He glanced around and saw the bandages. He growled softly at not being able to lick his wounds, but then he noticed the bars before him, and the living room past them. It was the final confirmation that he was really back home, with Robert. 

Tony worked his way onto his feet. He managed to stand a good two minutes before he fell back down. He hissed viciously as anger boiled inside him.

_‘No’_

He had been out. He had tasted freedom. It was almost like a dream, but it had happened, and now he was right back where he had started.

His stomach growled, reminding him he should seek nourishment. Luckily there was meat right next to him, and the minute he sunk his teeth into it, the anger disappeared. If there was one good thing about being back with Robert, it was the delicious food. Even though he couldn’t have hunted it for himself, he at least had a nice alternative.

“Good, you’re up.”

Tony glanced up from his dish to see Robert standing a few feet from the bars watching him. He noticed the bandages on his arms, peeking out from under the sleeve of his shirt, and right away Tony was brought back to the moment he attacked him. He remembered sinking his claws and teeth into his flesh and tasting blood. 

Shame filled him then, and he couldn’t eat another bite. He had almost killed this poor man.

With a whine, he tried getting to his feet so he could move as close as he could to him.

“No no my pet. Rest. I don’t want you moving around.”

Tony stared at him closely, wishing he could make the human understand with his eyes that he was sorry for what he’d done to him. Robert bowed his head and laid a hand against his bandaged arm.

“I was scared out of my mind when you ran away. I didn’t know where you went or if you’d gotten killed. Thank god for Whitmore. His people found you.” Tony gave a hiss at the name. “Come now Tony. You would be dead if his people hadn’t brought you back to me. When I saw that blood on your side, at first I thought they hurt you. It was a car.”

Tony shivered at the thought of that car striking him. He could actually feel it slamming into him again.

“The world out there is just too dangerous for you Tony. I hope you at least sensed that much. You’re much safer here. And I’m going to do my best to make sure you’re happier. For now, take it easy my pet. I don’t want you hurting yourself worse.”

Tony’s tail swayed back and forth as he took in his words. Despite his warning to rest, Tony moved slowly toward the bars. 

“Tony don’t be stubborn. Don’t move around,” Robert pleaded.

It didn’t stop Tony who came to a stop and proceeded to rub his head against the bars in an affectionate manner. Robert watched for a moment, confused, then he smiled upon realizing what Tony was trying to communicate.

“No hard feelings my friend. I don’t blame you for attacking me. I’m okay, and so are you. We’ll start over, and maybe somehow, in the far future, we’ll become as close as I’d like us to be.”

Happy little growls issued from Tony’s throat. It felt good to feel safe and cared for. With such a thought in mind, he wondered if he really belonged here after all. Venturing off to find a new home and people in his dreams seemed foolish compared to what he had right here.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitmore calls Robert with a curious proposal

Things fell back into the regular routine. It was as if Tony had never left. Robert still brought him delicious meat and praised him. The only difference was that Robert didn’t reach through the bars to pet him. Tony had tried to encourage him by pressing his head against the bars and waiting, but Robert only smiled and left the room. It did leave him disheartened. Robert still loved him, but he wasn’t willing to risk showing it by running his fingers through his fur. He hoped in the future it would change. In the meantime, he didn’t stop trying.

“Oh Tony,” Robert said as he watched him rubbing against the bar from his chair. “I’d love to pet that soft fur of yours, but…let’s just take it slow, for now.”

Tony pulled away and gazed at him. His owner was either being quite cautious, or was quite traumatized by his attack. He gave a sorrowful whine before turning and jumping onto the hanging tire. Robert just laughed at his enthusiasm. 

A few days later, Robert received an unexpected call. He checked the number and guessed who the private number was referring to.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Madson,” said Whitmore politely. “I thought I’d check in with you. Make sure you were still doing well.”

“I am. Thank you for asking.”

“How about Tony? I hope he’s healed well after his little escapade.”

Robert turned to Tony who was happily chewing on his doll while relaxing in his cave. 

“He’s good,” he replied, smiling. “Back to the old Tony thankfully. I really couldn’t thank you enough.” He sank into the chair as he was hit with the full weight of remembering Tony lying limp and bloody in his cage. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t managed to fix him.”

“What’s important to me, is keeping humans and pets together.” He laughed softly as if he was fond of the belief. “Well, Mr. Madson, I’m not only calling to check in. I wanted to inform you of a new addition to the Golden Rod that you might have an interest in, particularly since you care for Tony so much.”

“What addition?”

“In another month, I have plans to add a female ocelot hybrid to my little zoo. All hybrids are auctioned off of course, so I don’t normally give anyone a heads up ahead of time, but considering it is Tony Stark you’re dealing with, it might be good to give him female company. He was always in the company of women during his human life, and I’m sure he misses it. Besides that, he’s bound to get lonely some days.”

Robert worked the request around in his head before speaking. He turned to Tony who had gotten up to get himself a drink of water.

“I haven’t seen a sign of loneliness in him. I’m always here.”

“Yes, but you’re not an ocelot Mr. Madson.”

Robert couldn’t argue that, but he felt there had to be more to what Whitmore was saying.

“Is it really just about female company for Tony?” he asked suspiciously.

Whitmore laughed softly again, this time as an expression of embarrassment. 

“Well, to be completely honest, I was hoping you might take an interest in breeding your pet.”

Robert’s brows raised in surprise.

“Breed Tony?”

“That’s right.”

Robert looked at Tony. He was standing near the bars watching him curiously. After a moment, he rubbed his body against them and whined for attention.

“Are hybrids even capable of being bred?”

“My scientists assure me it’s quite possible now. If I’m going to expand my business as well as the happiness of my members, then this is the next step. Imagine your Tony fathering beautiful ocelot cubs. Imagine the worth there. But if you become fond of them, they would be yours to keep. I just thought you might like to help your pet have a family of his own.”

“I…”

“You wanted to keep him happy,” Whitmore pointed out. “I think giving him a beautiful mate and adorable children will keep him happy for years to come. Think about it. His whole reason for escaping was to seek the wild, and I’m certain a mate as well. So what do you say? Can I put you down as top pick?”

Robert considered Tony as he moved around his environment. He paused near the tree and flicked his tail in a bored manner.

“Well, I’m sorry Mr. Whitmore. I don’t think I can.”

“Do I sense a little jealousy Mr. Madson?” he joked.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, I don’t think I can consider handling two ocelot hybrids at the moment. Tony is enough work as it is. Maybe when I’m able to expand his environment more.”

“Well by then, the female may be bought and sold.”

Robert just gave a shrug.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to take that chance. For now, it’s a no.”

Whitmore gave a slight sigh.

“Very well. If you change your mind, you know how to reach me.”

“Thank you Mr. Whitmore.”

Robert hung up with his mind reeling. He could just picture ocelot cubs running around the environment as he looked at Tony’s habitat. He even pictured Tony engaging them in play after running his cheek in an affectionate manner against his mate. He walked up to the bars which encouraged Tony to give him his full attention. 

“You’re happy with the way things are right now, aren’t you pet?”

Tony cocked his head.

_‘Happy?’_

Robert smiled at him, making Tony feel at ease.

_‘Yes…happy’_

“Whitmore thought you might like a mate, but I’m not sure I can handle it right now. Actually, it’s not just that. He was kind of right when he accused me of being jealous. A female might get in the way of our friendship. You might forget all about me.”

Tony stared on him. His mind had registered one word.

_‘Mate?’_

“If it’s what you’d really want, you’d definitely have to tell me. I’d hate for it to do the opposite and stress you instead of making you happy.”

Robert started to reach out a hand as if he intended to scratch his head. Instead, he pulled away and walked out of the room. Tony, however, was still frozen by what Robert had offered. He wouldn’t have to be alone. Well, it wasn’t as if his alone time bothered him. He was quite happy for it to just be him and Robert, but this idea of a mate was a little intriguing.

“Ma…ma…maate?” he vocalized in a questioning tone.

Briefly, the image of a red headed woman came to his mind. He didn’t acknowledge it, so the image slipped away from his mind easily.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team makes major progress

Pepper stared down at the picture of Tony currently showing on her phone. She scrolled to another that showed the pair having a good time dancing at some fundraiser. She scrolled to another that showed Tony asleep at his work space. Despite the sorrow she felt at viewing the images, the corners of her lips rose into a smile. Rhodes walked into the room, and Pepper felt compelled to put the pictures away and tuck her phone in her pocket. 

“I hate to say this James, but it looks like even a large cup of coffee won’t revive you.”

“Do I look that bad?”

She looked him up and down, taking in his disheveled appearance. His clothes were wrinkled, his eyes were bloodshot, and food stains appeared here and there on his person.

“Well, I think it’s kinder if I say nothing.”

He smiled at the attempted joke.

“Well, I’ll try to work in a shower, and some ironing. It’s just…”

“I know.”

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. The interrogation process was quite stressful when Rhodes felt they were getting nowhere and hearing nothing. 

At that point, Natasha walked into the room while on her phone. Rhodes didn’t acknowledge who she was speaking to. Instead he settled himself on the couch. Steve wandered in as well, looking better than Rhodes at the moment. 

“Guys,” he greeted as he nodded at them. Rhodes and Pepper politely nodded back. 

“Ready to hear more bullshit from that assholes Kaye?” Rhodes asked him.

Steve plopped himself down in a chair before him.

“Seems like that’s all we’re getting. But, there’s gotta be something. There’s no other trail that could lead to Tony.”

Rhodes wanted to feel optimistic, but he just couldn’t. Natasha snapped off her phone then and turned to them with a sly smile.

“I think that something might have finally come up cap.”

“What do you mean?”

“Fury informed me that the suspect revealed something about using the poached animals for Whitmore’s private parties.”

“What, you mean like for an animal show?” asked Steve.

“I don’t know. He claims it’s all he knows,” Natasha replied. “Apparently it’s a rare type of party that includes people who have a love for exotic animals. Has Tony ever mentioned Whitmore having such parties?”

“No,” Pepper answered with a shake of her head. “Tony’s never been one to attend any kind of event or party if Whitmore’s involved, and I certainly don’t see him attending one that has anything to do with animals.”

Natasha shrugged.

“Whitmore is known to advocate for the protection of wildlife species,” said Rhodes. “He’s involved in poaching, but is he using the animals to spread that message? Doesn’t make sense to me. He would have done things the legal way. The world would know about these so called exotic parties if there wasn’t something funny going on.”

“Sounds like a pretty exclusive club,” said Steve thoughtfully.

“Right, and if Tony was investigating Whitmore close enough, he might have discovered such a party.”

Rhodes sat forward as a spark of hope tried to ignite within him. 

“Alright,” he said, “it’s a start.

“Possibly,” Natasha added. “We just need the right person to gain an invite.”

“Who?” asked Pepper.

“A fresh face for Whitmore.”

 

Maria roamed around the exhibit with a glass of champagne in her hand. Every now and then she stopped before a piece of art and observed it. Some of the works sparked her interest, but when it came down to it, she didn’t find too many works that grabbed her since most of the works were abstract. She looked at the crowd milling about and noticed Whitmore in a corner talking to a few people. The gallery event was hosted by Whitmore, which brought a nice crowd of people dressed in their best. As for Maria, she wore a simple blue dress and had her hair pinned up in an elegant bun. 

She moved along to another piece. On a huge canvas, an artist had depicted a beautiful gray wolf in the snow. Its deep yellow eyes stared right at her intensely. Her mouth parted in awe, amazed at the artist’s ability to capture such a look on a creature.

“Have a thing for wolves?”

She turned to see Whitmore behind her, smiling politely. Maria returned the smile.

“I do. Ever since I was a little girl. They’re just, beautiful.” 

Whitmore nodded and studied the painting as well.

“Yes. I’d love to have this piece in my home, but I believe the public deserves to view it. In my opinion, not enough people take an interest in such creatures.”

“Amen to that,” Maria said, in a tone that continued to express awe.

“You know, I’m normally familiar with most of my guests, but I haven’t seen you before.”

She turned to Whitmore and extended her free hand. 

“Annie Parker.”

Whitmore took her hand and shook it.

“Wendell Whitmore.”

“I’m aware, and I feel honored to meet you.”

“Well, the honor is all mine for someone as lovely as yourself.”

Maria just kept up the act of smiling at him. She turned back to the painting with an expression of love.

“God. This piece is so stunning. And this isn’t the only one. I saw a gorgeous depiction of two cheetahs.”

“Have an interest for the exotic? Or is it only because they’re the only paintings that are decipherable?” Whitmore asked with a cheeky grin.

“Well, the abstract pieces are beyond me, I’ll admit, but I do have a soft spot for animals.”

“Particularly wolves,” Whitmore stated.

“Yes.” Maria took a long sip of her champagne while keeping her attention on the canvas.

“Any pets?”

Maria pulled up a sorrowful smile.

“No. I considered maybe getting a nice husky, but I’m not sure. I’ve seen people on documentaries owning animals like monkeys, servals, even foxes. I’d be happy to follow their lead and get myself a wolf. It’s an unusual way to live, but I’m drawn to it.”

“That may be hard to come by. Not to mention expensive.”

She gave a nod in agreement. 

“I can afford the expensive. It’s just, getting my hands on such a creature may be a little tricky. Maybe I’ll settle for a husky afterall.”

She pretended not to notice the thoughtful look on his face as she sipped away the last of her drink. 

“I may know of a way to help you.”

“Really?” she asked with a hopeful look.

“Really.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card which she took. “Send me an email using that address, and I’ll send you an invite.”

“An invite to where?”

Whitmore leaned in close, grinning like a candy loving child.

“An invite, to a very special club of mine. If you’re as interested in wolves and the unusual as you say, this may be the very thing you’ve been hoping for.”

Maria just gave him a grateful smile and squeezed his arm in thanks.

“I really, really appreciate this.”

Whitmore gave a nod, before a man walked over to usher him away.

“Mr. Whitmore, my wife is dying to meet you.”

Maria looked over the card before tucking it safely away in her purse. Without appearing obvious, she made her way to the exit. 

Once outside and out of sight of any guests, she raised her hand up to her ear.

“Fury, I have it. Mission was a success.”

She smiled to herself as she made her way toward two Shield agents who were ready to drive her back to the base.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria visits the Golden Rod Society

Maria took in all the gold décor used to highlight the exquisiteness of the Golden Rod Society. Streamers hung from the ceiling, along with blinking lights that gave it the look of a night sky filled with stars. A fancy spread of food filled a table covered in a gold table cloth and glitter. Here and there, exotic looking plants brought life to the room, along with spots of animal fur patterns on the dining tables. 

She sat at one such table that was trimmed with a snow leopard pattern on the edge of the tablecloth as she sipped champagne. She turned to the large stage ahead where the curtains were still drawn. She turned to the guests who were happily mingling with one another or helping themselves to food. There was excitement in the air, and Maria hadn’t been able to find out what it was about.

After sending the email to Whitmore, he had sent her the invite to the Golden Rod without explaining what it was about. The only thing she gathered from a few searches was that it was an exclusive club where like-minded people joined to protect endangered wildlife. She was starting to worry that it was all there was to the society, yet she had a strange feeling about it. She raised her hand to her ear.

“No sign of Whitmore,” she said in a low voice.

“Keep a lookout,” said Fury through the mic. “The team is on standby.”

Maria leaned back as boredom started to set in. She considered talking to the guests to gauge what would be occurring, but being she was a new member, they refused to give her anything, preferring to let it be some kind of surprise. At the same time she had a feeling Whitmore orchestrated it that way for all newbies.

A few minutes later, the curtains parted and Whitmore made his way onto the stage. The guests began clapping loudly. She joined in the applause as Whitmore smiled at the faces.

“Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry for the wait. There was a little trouble backstage, but it’s all sorted, and we’ll be able to get on with the auction.”

“Auction?” Maria questioned under her breath. 

“But first,” Whitmore continued, “let us welcome the new faces I see in the crowd. Let them know they are among a family that understands their greatest desire and love for all species.”

The guests began applauding as they sought out the newbies among them. Maria smiled and nodded in thanks as some of the guests looked her way. 

“I trust you to keep what you learn and see here, right in this Society. Do not feel pressured into participating in the auction being it’s your fist time. Feel free to just sit back and enjoy if you wish. Of course if you have any concerns, feel free to get in contact with me. And now, onto the main event!”

There were loud cheers at this which told Maria that the auction was the real highlight of the event. She straightened up in her seat and tapped the mic.

“Here we go,” she said in a low voice. 

“I expect we’re about to see those poached animals going up for sale,” said Fury.

As a cage was wheeled out on the stage, it was just what Maria expected to see. Her eyes widened at the sight of a tiger pacing around a cage. Surely none of the guests would actually purchase a fully grown tiger. But then the animal turned to face the crowd, and as they pushed the cage closer to the end of the stage, Maria’s eyes widened further and her mouth dropped.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she was seeing. It appeared to be a human shaped tiger, with a face that was an odd mess of man and beast. Maria couldn’t stop staring. Her first thought was to assume it was a person in some kind of costume, but it looked far too real to be make-up. Then it gave a very tiger like roar that chilled her to the bones and nearly made her fall from her seat. His big brown eyes scanned the crowd frantically. It shivered and appeared confused as well as scared.

“Who doesn’t like a beautiful tiger,” said Whitmore as he gestured to the creature. The crowd oohed and aahed. Maria desperately looked around for someone who had any sense as to how crazy this was. “I would advise only purchasing it if you can handle such a powerful beast.”

The tiger-man stopped pacing and scrunched his eyes closed as he worked his mouth. Maria frowned, not understanding what he was doing. And then she heard it.

“Hhey…hey…hel…hhelllp…meee!”

The chill Maria had felt, deepened at the combined voice of man and animal. She actually trembled in fright. Again she took in the crowd, but no one seemed bothered by the animal’s plea.

“What is my starting bid?” Whitmore cried.

Maria quickly put up an unconcerned expression so as not to arouse suspicion. 

“You won’t believe what I’m seeing,” she said to the mic. “You’ve got to send in the team.”

“We’re not here to catch proof of animal poaching.”

“No. It’s much more than that. It’s people. He’s auctioning off, people…turned animal somehow.”

“I have five thousand, do I hear six?” asked Whitmore.

“Six!” someone shouted.

“Do I hear seven? How about eight? Come on, look at this beauty!” 

“Fury, send the team in. Now,” she ordered.

This couldn’t go on. She wasn’t sure if this had anything to do with Tony, but as she stared at the humanoid tiger, she had a feeling that it was possible he’d gone through the same experience. It was either that or he’d been killed.

She got up and walked to the nearest table where a mustached man was joyously talking with a woman.

“Wish I could afford that beauty,” he said. 

“He is something,” Maria agreed as she pulled up a chair. “Pardon me for intruding, but I am one of the newbies to this club. Annie Parker.”

“Ahh, well nice to meet you,” he said as he shook her hand. “I’m Dan Clive.”

“Nice to meet you. I was just wondering, is that tiger really what I think it is?”

Mr. Clive looked at the creature and smiled toothily.

“Oh yes, he is.”

“But, who is he? The man in the tiger?” she prodded.

Mr. Clive just shrugged.

“Don’t know. Names aren’t normally revealed. All we know is that they’re volunteers.”

“Although he did reveal one,” said the woman suddenly.

Maria turned to her as her heart began to pound.

“Who?” 

The woman turned to Mr. Clive as if a little uncertain of going so far.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t say.”

Maria looked away.

“Nine thousand! Going once!” Whitmore cried.

“I bet I can guess who it was,” Maria said.

“Going twice!” cried Whitmore.

“Was it…Tony Stark?” she asked cautiously.

The woman’s face brightened.

“Sold!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally someone from the team gets the one tip off they've been looking for.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitmore's party is crashed

Maria failed to see the person that had bought the tiger hybrid, shake Whitmore’s hand. She was still occupied with the fact that she had just witnessed confirmation in her earlier theory. The woman who had given it away, appeared to be a bit ashamed of herself.

“Who was it? Who bought him?” Maria asked quickly, “And what kind of animal was he?”

“My dear, I don’t know,” she replied. “I missed that particular evening. I heard through word of mouth that he was a volunteer.”

“Which mouth? And what kind of animal was he?”

Mr. Clive tossed her an irritated look.

“Look Miss, Parker was it? What difference does it make what he was? He’s sold. And don’t bother asking me who bought him. I wasn’t there that night either.”

Maria sighed and nodded as she backed off.

“Alright. I’m sorry to pry. It’s just fascinating news.”

She moved back to her own table just as the tiger man was being wheeled backstage. Her eyes shifted to the couple. For the most part she believed they were being truthful, but they’d still have to be taken in for questioning. 

“Fury, Whitmore was definitely behind Tony’s disappearance,” she muttered as she touched the mic. “Send in the team…now.”

Whitmore came up to the front of the stage again, smiling brightly. 

“Don’t feel too disappointed people. There are plenty of beauties backstage just waiting to go home with one of you. So, onto our next pet!”

Before said pet could be introduced, there was a sound of a crash behind them. Guests turned around just as shouts and gunfire were heard. A minute later SHIELD agents, as well as the remaining Avengers team, came bursting into the room. 

“Everyone, remain calm!” the Captain ordered as he led them forward. 

Despite the order, people panicked but kept to their seats. It was understandable that they would be nervous since the agents had their guns at the ready. 

“Nobody has to get hurt here. We’re just here for one man.”

He pointed at Whitmore. The smile had long since dropped from his face. In fact, the man was turning pale from the shock of the new arrivals.

“Wha…what the hell is the meaning of this!” he demanded. “You can’t just barge in here like this, heroes or not! Security!”

Men came hurrying toward them from behind the stage. As they risked shooting the intruders, people screamed and ducked for cover or attempted to run for the exits. Rhodes and Steve easily knocked out their attackers, while Natasha went to work on making sure gunfire didn’t hit any of the guests. 

In the ensuing chaos, Maria noticed Whitmore hurrying behind the curtain.

“He’s making a break for it!” she cried.

“Not for long,” Rhodes said, after giving a strong punch to a guard’s face. With the Iron Patriot suit, he was able to quickly zoom up to the stage.

 

It was now something of a role reversal as it was Whitmore doing his best to avoid the pursuing Avenger as he moved quickly between cages of roaring and hissing hybrids. Rhodes went through the maze of it as well, determined. Every now and then he was occupied with a guard who did their best to protect their boss.

“What the hell did you do with Tony!” Rhodes cried after causing a man to double over in pain and pass out.

Footsteps reached his ears, and he turned to see that Steve and Clint had come to lend a hand.

“What makes you think I did anything to Stark!” Whitmore shouted.

“Guys.”

Rhodes looked back at Clint who was in a trance as he stared at a platinum blonde haired woman curled in the corner of a cage. White fur covered her from head to toe, and she stared back at him with something of a ferret like face. She made a little squeak before curling in on herself even more and shifting her tail around herself. 

He slowly moved his eyes away from the ferret woman to one that was awfully rabbit like.

“What the hell is going on in here? Are these…people?”

Rhodes and Steve took a moment to take in the caged creatures. Right away they could see and understand what Clint was talking about. It was a pretty distracting sight, especially when Rhodes thought he heard one of the creatures say “Please”.

“We’ll talk to Maria after we deal with Whitmore,” said Steve.

Rhodes nodded in agreement. They couldn’t afford to get distracted now. 

“She mentioned Tony. So does this mean, one of these things is actually…”

Clint couldn’t finish it, and Rhodes was glad for that. He didn’t want to think he’d been turned into one of the beasts around him. He preferred to believe he was simply locked up out of sight. 

He rounded a corner of the cages with his palm ready to shoot.

“Whitmore! Where’s Tony!”

In response, he heard a horrible growl. He turned in time to feel a grizzly bear hybrid fall on top of him. It flashed its teeth before attempting to bite into his armor. Steve hurried over and pulled the creature off of him. A minute later, he fell aside as a puma hybrid landed on his back out of nowhere.

It quickly became apparent that animals were being released to help in the fight, particularly since they heard Whitmore laugh.

“Don’t do this Whitmore!” Steve cried. “You’re putting more lives at risk!”

“He doesn’t give a damn!” Clint cried as he fought back a pit bull hybrid. “Try not to hurt them!”

They avoided injuring the hybrids to the point where their blows could turn fatal. The softer approach, however, allowed Whitmore to distance himself from the men even more. He chuckled after opening another cage before quickly moving out of the way.

“I’ll make you a deal!” He shouted. “You boys help me clean up the trouble you’ve caused me, and there won’t be a headline in tomorrow’s paper about the world’s greatest heroes attempting an assassination on an innocent businessman!”

“Cut the crap!” Rhodes cried while trying to keep a bull hybrid at bay. “You really think people are going to believe your side of things?”

“Of course they will!” Whitmore said confidently. “I know people. The Avengers at this time, have been driven mad with the disappearance of their teammate. Crashing an intimate party to put the blame on said businessman.”

“I bet your guests will say different!” Clint cried. He fired a special arrow at the bull, designed to knock him out. “People got hurt out there. You really think they’ll defend you!”

“To keep from losing their pets, of course they will!”

Rhodes growled as he turned another corner, but didn’t see the man in sight. The room had become an obstacle course of roaming beasts, and while Rhodes, Steve, and Clint were able to stay aware of everything in their sights. Whitmore, on the other hand, was no longer paying enough attention to his changing environment. He was so set on reaching a hidden exit that he failed to notice a fairly large hybrid keeping track of his movements.

“Where’s Tony!” Steve shouted.

Whitmore paused to make sure that none of the men were getting closer. He cursed his men for not being capable of stopping the avengers, but in his opinion the hybrids were doing a much better job of keeping the Avengers distracted. 

“Tony Stark!” Whitmore cried with a laugh. “I’m afraid that name will disappear, just as he had. But I can assure you wherever he is, he’s a changed man!”

He laughed and turned to the exit. Unfortunately for him, it was being blocked by a growling lion hybrid who was the very hybrid tracking his movements after Whitmore foolishly released him. Its eyes flashed as it stared the man down. Slowly it moved toward him, growling.

“Now now you, it’s the intruders you want, not me.”

But the lion hybrid ignored it and made a leap. Whitmore cried out as the beast landed on top of him. He screamed in pain as the lion sunk claws and fangs into his chest. No amount of kicking or pushing freed Whitmore from the hybrid. The lion just bit harder, tearing into the man’s flesh and causing the flow of blood to slowly turn into a pool.

The Avengers were immediately alerted from the scream, but by the time they rounded the right corner and found Whtimore, the lion hybrid had just finished biting into the man’s throat. Whitmore’s eyes were opened wide, staring lifelessly in shock.

Both Steve and Rhodes hurried over to pull the lion off of him.

“Is he…dead?” Clint asked.

Rhodes put all his strength into holding the snarling hybrid aside as he attempted to go back to his prey, while Steve knelt down to check for a pulse. He already knew the answer before he set two fingers against his wrist.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “Wendell Whitmore is dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The man behind Tony's predicament is dead. But the mission of finding Tony still remains.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How some handle the aftermath of Whitmore's death

Tony slumped lazily in the tree as he watched the tire swing slightly on the rope below him. He yawned and attempted a small stretch before moving down the tree and hitting the ground. His tail flicked as he gazed past the bars into the living room in annoyance. Robert hadn’t shown up all morning and it was really starting to worry him. Tony was certain he was still in the house. 

With a growl of frustration, he padded over to the water bottle to get a drink. After that, his eyes fell on his humanoid doll. Feeling playful, he pounced on it and immediately sunk his teeth into the soft material. The simple action made him feel better already as little sounds of happiness issued from his throat.

“Oh god.”

Tony stopped biting into the toy and looked up as Robert entered the room. He wasn’t smiling like he normally did. Instead he looked worried, so much so that Tony could feel the panic rolling off of him in waves. He started pacing around back and forth, wringing his hands while muttering. Tony whined in concern, catching Robert’s attention and making him stop.

“Tony…I’m sorry pet. You must be starved. I’ll fetch you something.”

He quickly left the room, still looking extremely fearful. All Tony could assume was that something big had happened.

“M-mate?” Tony vocalized in thought. Perhaps the big news was that he would be getting a mate afterall.

Tony sat at the bars and waited patiently for his breakfast. Several minutes later, Robert rounded the corner with his dish of fresh meat. 

“Again, my apologies pet.” He pushed it through the slot then sighed.

Tony tried to catch the man’s eye but he just wouldn’t give it. He gave another little whine. This time Robert offered a small, sad smile.

“It’s not a very good day today Tony,” he said quietly. “Actually, it’s not a good one for either of us.”

The cell on the coffee table began to ring. Robert actually cringed and refused to acknowledge it. Instead he walked over and flipped on the thing Tony recalled as the television. Tony hissed at first at the strange contraption, then he remembered it was a normal thing for humans. 

The news was automatically displayed with the headline ‘Whitmore Murdered!’ 

Tony took notice of it, but the words didn’t mean anything. Then an image of the man was shown next to the news anchor, and everything seemed to come to a halt in Tony’s brain. 

He could see the man clearly leering at him as he sat, unable to move. He could see himself lying on some odd table while some small cat like himself laid on a similar table next to him. Then there was pain, terrible pain that had him screaming. Then for a second time he saw the man smiling wickedly at him.

Tony snarled viciously and took a step back as he stared at the tv.

 _‘Whitmore!’_ he thought angrily, _‘Bad…bad…bastard!’_

“While the investigation is still ongoing,” said the news anchor, “It has been rumored that the cause of death was due to an animal attack. Other sources insist a possible assassination.”

He growled as he attempted to take it in.

_’Dead? Bastard…is dead?’_

It wasn’t making much sense to him. Then he thought about what the anchor had said about a wild animal potentially being the cause. It brought him back to his own memory of attacking Robert. He’d almost killed his owner, so he could see the possibility, yet knowing he was dead didn’t give him much comfort. Tony flecked his claws and bared his teeth, wishing he’d been the one to do the job.

Robert shook his head as he watched. 

“Can’t have been an assassination,” he muttered. 

He knew the remark about it being an animal attack was potentially spot on, but in this case the animal was a hybrid. Considering the attention Whitmore’s fatal attack was getting, he feared it would only be a matter of time before everyone in the Golden Rod Society was investigated and separated from their pets. Of course, such fears came second to his sorrow for what had happened. Whitmore had been a good man who didn’t deserve what he suspected was a horrible death if his suspicions were true. 

“Poor man.”

Tony continued to growl. 

The scene shifted to the Avengers who were standing behind a podium before the press.

Tony’s eyes widened as he, once again, experienced that moment where his brain came to a stop. A shiver traveled down his spine, and the growls became whines. 

The blonde human who was speaking to the crowd, stirred something akin to frustration as well as relief within him. There was something familiar about the blonde, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. His shifted his eyes to the human besides the blonde. His body appeared to be mechanical below the neck which brought up an odd image of a mechanical red and gold suit. 

Tony stared at this man, somehow feeling as though he hadn’t seen him in years even though he had no idea who he was. His stomach twisted. He clawed at the bars, suddenly desiring to be as close to the tv as possible. This man was important to him somehow, just as the red headed female had been. He took in the next human, a smaller, sandy haired man. After him, it was a woman with dark red hair.

If it was possible to cry, Tony would have started at that moment. He heard nothing as they spoke to the press. His mind was attempting to grasp onto some kind of memory to let him know why his heart was squeezing at the sight of them. But it was like trying to remember a dream from long ago.

“We might be in trouble,” Robert muttered as he reached for the remote. 

“Nn…no,” Tony forced himself to vocalize as he knew what Robert was about to do.

He failed to stop him as he switched the channel.

Without the image of those somewhat familiar faces gazing back at him, Tony was at a loss. He couldn’t get his mind to latch onto it properly again, and instead desired to run up the tree and forget such complications.

He snarled loudly and began biting at the bars as a tantrum took ahold of him.

“Hey now Tony! What’s gotten into you? You haven’t acted that way in a long time.”

Tony’s only answer was to keep biting and growling and clawing. Robert sighed and ran a hand over his brow.

“Maybe you feel as frightened as I do.” Slowly he sunk into a chair and bowed his head. “I don’t know what’s going to happen Tony. The Avengers are assuring the public they’re going to look into the matter, which most likely means bad news for us.”

He looked over at Tony who had yet to stop biting at the bars. His fur was raised and he couldn’t latch onto the reason for this intense emotion flooding through him. Robert just watched him sadly.

“One thing I know for sure. They’re not taking you away from me. No matter what happens in Golden Rod, I’m not losing you.”

Tony stopped and stared at him as if he suddenly realized Robert was speaking to him. Tony took to rubbing his face against the bars in an affectionate manner, but only briefly. He realized Robert had mentioned something about not wanting him to go away. Tony couldn’t understand the meaning behind it. He had no intention of leaving Robert again.

“N-no…no,” he vocalized. He wasn’t even sure what he was saying “no” to.

He leaned his head against the bars, making a noise to demand he wanted to be petted. Robert just smiled sadly, before his lip trembled and his eyes teared up.

 

Rhodes checked his phone for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. It was getting harder and harder for him to sit still as he awaited news from the interrogations of the Golden Rod Society members who were present during the attack. He glared at one of the plain white doors in Fury’s base where one anonymous member was being interrogated. 

“Give us something already,” he muttered angrily. “Just give up Tony goddamn it.”

“Hey.”

He barely noticed Natasha settling down next to him. 

“Hey yourself,” he muttered as his focus was clearly elsewhere.

“Have you eaten yet?”

Rhodes just shook his head as he glanced down at his phone.

“Kind of hard to grab a bite to eat with the clingy press.”

“Well it’s not like Whitmore’s death is already old news,” she said with a shrug. “People are trying to understand what happened.”

“I’m still trying to understand what happened,” he said as he gave a dark chuckle. “I’d love for the world to know just what kind of man they were praising. The unbelievable thing he did to those people.” He shook his head and leaned back in his chair looking quite sick. “I can’t believe that…people were turned into those half animal abominations.”

“We can’t bring that news out into the open when we’re still trying to find Tony.” She frowned and bowed her head as another thought came to her mind. “I, I don’t want to believe Stark could be such a hybrid.”

Rhodes shut his eyes as if he was in pain. 

“They’re still going through those creatures right? Any word that one could be…” He couldn’t finish it. Natasha knew what he was asking and gave a shake of her head.

“Stark hasn’t been found among them as far as I know. I don’t know the team handling the hybrids, but I do know Banner is involved. It gives me hope that those people will be okay.”

“And what if they aren’t?” Rhodes questioned. As soon as he asked, he regretted it, and his stomach twisted. He didn’t really want to think about what would happen if they couldn’t find a reversal for the hybrids.

“Fury also has a team going over surveillance,” Natasha said as a way to shift the subject. “We could find something there.”

“Or nothing!” Rhodes cried. “So far we can’t find proper records of the auctions.”

Natasha bowed her head again. 

“Well there are records. Just, not any that puts a human name to any hybrid. And none that refer to Stark. The odds are low we’ll be able to figure out who’s who. Even if we do, I can’t imagine how we’ll be able to return them to their old lives. If we can return them to their old lives.”

The man actually shuttered at the comment. After a moment, he buried his face in his hands as it all started to overwhelm him in a negative way. Natasha placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“We’ll get Stark back,” she promised. “All we need is a name. Someone that knows who bought Tony that night. That person was a member, so someone had to have known him or her. Whitmore had to have kept a record of the people in his club.”

Rhodes found he didn’t fully care who had bought him. The problem was the fact that Tony had been altered in the first place. Trying to wrap his mind around it wasn’t quite possible, and it only brought on more heartache.

“I know,” he muttered quietly. “I just need him back right now, whole…and human.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a potential way to find Tony :)


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avenger team make a few discoveries

Bruce gazed sorrowfully at a raccoon hybrid male who was pacing anxiously in his cage with several wires embedded in its furry coat. Every once in a while he stopped and stared at Bruce, and worked his mouth as if he was going to speak. It never got past making a breathy gasp. Bruce scooted away from him and addressed several holographic screens before him while doing his best to ignore the various animal sounds of the other hybrids stationed in cages throughout the room.

It hadn’t been a good week. The days spent completely absorbed in what was now dubbed as the ‘Hybrid lab’, was not sitting well with him, particularly since he wasn’t making the kind of progress he hoped to make. Bruce typed away on the keyboard and checked vital signs while barely blinking. Even though there were other technicians in the lab along with him, he couldn’t help feeling a strong sense of duty to discover the reversal cure for himself, because he needed to do it for Tony.

“Dr. Banner?”

“Hmm?” He didn’t even look around at the young female tech who’d been assisting him.

“Have you eaten at all today?”

“Sure.” His eyes were glued to the screens.

“I’m serious.” She rested a hand on his moving fingers. At last Bruce sighed and turned to her. “You can’t help them without helping yourself a little first. You know that.”

“I can’t help them at all!” He growled, as a little green flushed his cheeks. He turned to the raccoon hybrid again. The hybrid was currently sniffing around the bars. “I know something on this level of complexity takes time…but…”

“But what?”

Bruce stared at the raccoon man, then looked around to see a hybrid pig girl flopped on her side. She seemed young enough to be in her teens.

“Maybe I’m just doing my best not to acknowledge it, but I feel like I already have the answer. I don’t want to admit this, but Whitmore’s scientists were horrible geniuses. The way they spliced and manipulated human and animal DNA without causing a chaotic breakdown is almost seamless.”

“Almost is good right?”

“Not necessarily,” Bruce countered. “So far, attempting to unravel that seam…might not be pretty.”

The woman walked over to the caged raccoon. He paused and gazed at her. In that moment, he imagined that the raccoon hybrid was Tony. His good friend who would be counting on him to use his brain to find a way. 

He balled his fists and glared with a newfound determination.

“But, we have to try.”

“I’m assuming you’re ready to begin phase one of the reversal procedure?”

“I am.”

 

Fury let his eyes shift from one profile to the other which were displayed on a large screen before the conference table. He chose a random profile to study and took note of the creature that was purchased; a female leopard hybrid. 

The door opened and Natasha entered. Immediately she took interest in the screen. 

“Rogers is getting anxious, so is Rhodes,” she informed him.

“Not surprising, since I'm feeling the same way.”

“Are these…”

“Yes. The members of the Golden Rod Society. Over half of them have been interviewed so far.”

Natasha moved closer and took in their faces. She turned to Fury who shook his head, knowing what she desired to ask.

“None of them are in possession of Stark.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He turned to her then, expression quite serious as well as concerned.

“Have you taken a look at the hybrids down in the lab?” She gave a sad nod. “Despite being part animal, their human features still show through. Banner and his team have been able to get a little headway into figuring out recognizable human beings within the animals.”

“But he hasn’t been able to fix them.”

Fury sighed and turned back to the display.

“The fact remains, we have yet to detect Stark. But the good news is, thanks to the ongoing interrogations of these members, we have recently learned what species Stark has been transformed into. Of course we’ll have to pry further to confirm this, but so far it sounds legit. If so, it’s only a matter of time before we discover who purchased him.”

At this, Natasha’s brow raised.

“What is he?” Despite being curious, she was also scared to hear the answer. Fury turned to her again.

“An ocelot.”

 

A week later, things had become a lot quieter in the lab. Bruce was currently sitting before a steel table where a nearly unrecognizable creature laid upon it on its side. It was clear it had been a hybrid, but it appeared just a little more human than animal mainly due to the fact that it was almost completely fur-less. Bruce stared at it with tired, grief stricken eyes. Part of him wanted to Hulk out at the sight of the thing, but the other part just wanted to cry.

“Dr. Banner. James Rhodes is requesting entry into the lab,” the A.I. over the lab informed him.

“Let him,” he muttered in a barely audible voice.

A minute later, Rhodes entered the facility.

“Bruce. I know I shouldn’t interrupt you when you’re working, but, I figured you could use a little…” He trailed off as his eyes fell on the odd creature on the table. “What animal was that? A naked mole rat?”

“It was a raccoon,” Bruce stated without looking away from it. “A raccoon hybrid.”

Rhodes moved closer, peering carefully at it. 

“Is it, dead?”

Bruce shut his eyes and nodded before running his hands over his face.

“I killed it,” he said quietly. “I…I tried to reverse what was done. I was sure I had it. We’ve been working at it all week, and the process proved trustworthy. But in the end…it was too much.”

Rhodes ran his hand gently over the only patch of fur left on the hybrid. 

“I’m sorry buddy,” he apologized. “Don’t worry. Whitmore paid for what he did to you.” 

Bruce rose to his feet and walked away. His eyes drifted to a few empty cages.

“Bruce. Don’t beat yourself up over this. You’ll get it. It’s just going to take more time.”

“No,” he disagreed. “It’s not about time. I know there’s a lot to research needed for this, but there’s one thing that’s become certain during my experiments. And it’s…that they can’t be undone.”

Rhodes was barely aware of the nasty drop in his gut. Slowly he began to shake his head.

“No. No anything can be fixed.”

“Not them!” Bruce growled. “The way they were put together, it’s almost as if they were born that way. Trying to separate them is like trying to separate a single human or animal with nothing to separate it from. But it’s not just that Rhodes. To become what they are, Whitmore has put them through serious surgical procedures. We found evidence of dental surgeries, heart, and even eye transplants, as well as the removal of complete limbs.”

He looked back at the raccoon hybrid again as his heart twisted.

“Jesus,” Rhodes muttered. He felt a terrible nauseous feeling overcome him with the news. “So that son of a bitch removed human parts to merge it with the animals? Why?”

“Made it easier to gain success,” Bruce theorized. “This process is so complex. We can’t even figure out how it was done to recreate the experiment on a technological level. But what is clear, is that they are stuck.”

Rhodes slowly moved next to him as they both took in the remaining hybrids against the wall. 

“Bruce,” Rhodes began desperately, “there’s gotta be something. These poor souls don’t deserve to be stuck like this forever. Tony doesn’t deserve to be stuck.”

“The science is proving otherwise,” Bruce said dejectedly. “And these poor souls aren’t just stuck…they’re suffering. I’ve heard it. I felt it. I see it clearly when I look at them.”

“So what the hell do we do?” He already knew the answer Bruce was going to give, but couldn’t brace himself for it.

“The only thing we can do.” Bruce bowed his head as he tried to gather himself. “It was an order given by SHIELD before I convinced them to let me try this. But now…the only thing we can do…is put them out of their misery.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery of what happened to Tony is slowly coming together for the group. Unfortunately according to Bruce, it'll still be unfortunate for them.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert makes a decision with Tony

Robert ran a hand repeatedly over Tony’s head. The ocelot, meanwhile, had his eyes closed and made soft noises of comfort. Robert was quite pleased that he had managed to come so far in being able to pet his friend again, but it felt a little too late to have achieved it.

“I don’t suppose you have any ideas on what we should do?” he asked.

Tony just stretched out his legs and lazily thumped his tail on the floor of his pen. Robert just smiled.

“I’ve gotten emails from some of the members. They're telling me others are being questioned and their pets have been taken away. Might be…a matter of time before…”

He trailed off as his cell started to ring. He jumped, which had become normal lately whenever it rang. Reluctantly he pulled his fingers away. Tony mad a noise of disappointment as Robert walked over to answer it. Right away he saw it was from Golden Rod.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Madson…it’s Gina.”

“Oh Gina.” His stomach twisted uncomfortably. “How are you, holding up?”

“As well as can be expected. Listen, things are, well as you can imagine, chaotic.”

“I know. I’m sorry about Whitmore,” Robert voiced quietly. “Was it, really an animal attack like they say?”

She was quiet for a minute.

“Yes, but it was due to an attack from the Avengers, during an auction. An escaped hybrid got him as I understand it, and now those poor hybrids are in their custody.”

Robert cursed under his breath. He had always admired the Avengers, but he despised hearing about their interference, particularly since it was costing all of the Golden Rod members. He looked over at Tony. He was on his feet and observing him curiously. 

“The Avengers. What are they going to do with them?” His heart was thumping painfully in his chest.

“I don’t know, but I doubt it’s good,” she replied.

“They’re not getting Tony,” he declared firmly. “He doesn’t deserve to go back to people like them. He enjoys his life, and I like to think he enjoys me. At least I hope.”

Tony rubbed his cheek against the bars of his cage as if to answer him, making him chuckle.

“They won’t get Tony,” she confirmed. “I’m doing everything I can with the few people I have to try and get members and their pets to safety. And that’s why I’m calling. I’m going to help you.”

“How?”

“I’m going to send you to a safe spot where we’ll meet, then I’ll set up a means for you and Tony to escape.”

“Escape?” The idea wasn’t sitting well with him.

“It’s the only way Mr. Madson. You can’t stay here with the Avengers investigating. I know they’re not just out to round up all the hybrids. They’re looking for Tony. I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew what he was by now, and they’ll do everything they can to get him back.”

Robert stared intently at Tony as he felt a nasty squeeze in his heart. Slowly he shut his eyes and did his best to stop imagining life without his ocelot.

“I’ll provide you with a new location and a new name. Maybe after things cool off, you’ll be able to return,” Gina continued. “I know this is all new to you, but you have to do it if you want to keep Tony safe.”

Robert opened his eyes which had become a little moist.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Okay. I’ll send a guard to fetch you and Tony. I’m afraid he won’t be able to make it until tomorrow. Stay safe, both of you.”

He clicked off and walked over to Tony. He made a little growl of disapproval at being abandoned. 

“I’m sorry pet,” he apologized as he reached through the bars and resumed his petting. 

Tony whined and sat down as he took comfort in the touch.

“Things…things are about to get, a little difficult. But it’s going to be okay. You just have to trust me alright.”

Robert turned away from him with a heavy sigh and shook his head as he thought of his pet's old team. Tony’s ears perked up at his odd behavior. He could sense his agitation easily and it was starting to get to him.

_‘What’s wrong?’_

He couldn’t understand why his owner’s face had fallen. With a little growl of annoyance, he turned and jumped on the tire swing, making it swing wildly with him on it. The human had always gotten a laugh out of watching him play, and he was sure it would do the trick. When he looked at the man, he saw he was having trouble mustering up a smile.

“I hope Gina has a real nice place for us,” he muttered. “More importantly, for you. I did my best to bring the wild into my home, but whatever she has planned might top this.”

Tony cocked his head in confusion, then turn to the tree and raced up to the highest branch. 

_‘Wrong’_ he thought sadly, _‘Something wrong’_

He didn’t get a clue what was wrong as Robert walked away from him. 

Tony jumped down again and this time sought out entertainment from attacking the humanoid doll. He settled down and happily chewed on it, deciding he wouldn’t worry about whatever was plaguing his owner. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the tv had decided to depict a scene of Steve, Rhodes, and Clint trying to evade reporters. Tony stopped chewing and raised his head as the news anchor spoke over them.

“Though there is no confirmation that the Avengers themselves are actually investigating the death of Whitmore, many are already speculating that Wendell Whitmore may have been a long time enemy of our heroes.”

 _‘A-ven-gers?’_ Tony thought curiously. He pulled up the memory of Robert using such a word, but what did it really mean?

The ocelot hybrid took a moment to really consider the three men on screen. Something in the back of his mind was urging him to pull something forward, but he didn’t know what. When the blonde man took a moment to answer a few of the questions tossed his way, Tony felt there was something else familiar about that kind of atmosphere. An atmosphere of flashing lights and lots of questions.

He growled as he tried to bring something forward, but there was nothing. 

He blinked and took in the men again, and found nothing of interest there. Bored with watching the strange box of these Avengers, he turned back to the toy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robert's gonna make a break for it with Tony, but will he succeed? Meanwhile, poor Tony's loosing more of himself.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert plans to run, but the team is closing in.

“We believe this is our man,” Fury said.

He stood aside as an image of Robert Madson popped up on the large screen of the conference room. Rhodes narrowed his eyes at the innocent looking man.

“Are you certain?” he asked.

“Very certain. According to his file, he purchased an ocelot hybrid from an auction a couple of months ago. It lines up with the estimated time of Stark’s disappearance.” He clicked the pointer and Mr. Madson’s image was shared with that of another man. “The only other member to purchase an ocelot was this gentleman, Thomas Gold. All in all, there were only two Golden Rod members who purchased ocelot hybrids, and considering Mr. Gold’s purchase was from two years ago, I’m betting Mr. Madson is our guy.”

“Two years?” Natasha questioned. “How long has this been going on?”

“Too long,” said Steve. “We gotta move. I’m sure the few members we haven’t gotten in touch with are doing their best to flee persecution. Mr. Madson has to be, considering he has our teammate.”

“We’re hunting them both down in case the info on Mr. Gold is inaccurate,” Fury declared.

“As long as it gets us Tony,” Rhodes muttered as his hand twitched nervously.

 

The rapid knock on the door startled Robert so badly, he spilled his morning coffee all over himself. Automatically his mind went to the police, then his fear increased when he considered the idea that it might be the Avengers. 

He peeked through the peephole and saw a man dressed much like the men who Whitmore had sent to track down Tony when he had escaped. Still he was suspicious, and kept the chain on the door as he opened it.

“Can I, help you?”

“Mr. Madson, Gina sent me,” he clarified. “I’m here to help you and your pet.”

He patted the tall cage next to him. Robert felt a strong wave of relief and clutched his chest.

“Oh, thank god. I’ll never be able to thank Gina enough for this.”

“She’s really risking a lot,” said the guard. “Trying to protect the members and keep Whitmore’s work out of the wrong hands.”

“And I appreciate it. Come in.”

The guard entered, wheeling the cage in behind him.

“This way.”

Robert led him to Tony’s private sanctuary. Tony was currently finishing up his breakfast which was a rather tasty piece of fish. Robert fully believed Tony deserved the best before they departed as he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to provide so well for him again.

Tony glanced up and uttered a little hiss at the intruder.

“Easy Tony. He’s here to help us.”

He considered his words before ignoring him and turning back to his meal. Robert turned to the guard as he pushed it close to the door.

“It might be a little tricky getting him in. I brought tranquilizers.”

“No. Please. I can get him in. He trusts me.”

The guard just raised a disbelieving brow. 

“Suit yourself,” he muttered.

“Thank you. And, I know we’re on a tight schedule, but would you mind if he finishes eating?” The guard looked at him again, but Robert’s attention was on Tony. “I just want him to enjoy the last of this before we leave.”

“We don’t have time.”

“We have to make time!” Robert argued. “It’s only fair to him.”

The guard rolled his eyes and stepped away.

“You’ve got ten minutes. After that, I’m leaving without your ass.”

Robert paid him no mind as he leaned against the bars and simply observed his friend. He wanted to be happy, knowing he was going to be with someone he would consider his best friend, but he couldn’t help feeling incredibly anxious as well as sad.

 

“Bruce, still hasn’t found a reverse for them,” Rhodes muttered under his breath. 

Natasha glanced at him from her position in the driver’s seat. They were currently heading for Mr. Madson’s address. Following at a distance behind them were Steve and Clint and another car with two SHEILD agents. 

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she thought about his words.

“It’s complicated, but I’m sure he can-”

“He can’t!” Rhodes clarified. “Right now all his effort is going into trying to keep the hybrids that are left. The problem is…well, obvious.”

“SHIELD views them as abominations,” Natasha finished quietly. “Abominations with a dangerous wild side. If Bruce really can’t do anything for them, if there’s no way to fix their minds, there’ll have to be an alternative plan.”

Rhodes bowed his head as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with Bruce over a disturbing solution.

“Euthanize them,” he stated. 

Natasha tensed.

“Are they…really in that much pain?” she asked. “If they aren’t, maybe they can stay as they are.”

Rhodes frowned as his thoughts shifted to Tony, and he made a fist.

“What kind of a life is that? Living while stuck between being a human and an animal? If it was just about looks, I’d say it was possible for them to live like that, but it’s not just their bodies that were changed, it’s their minds.”

He gazed out the window morosely and drifted his eyes from the streets to the sky. If what had happened to Tony was real, then his friend would never zoom across the sky again in his suit. Never would he hide away in the lab to bring forth a new technological achievement. 

Rhodes couldn’t help denying the idea that he’d been touched by Whitmore in such a way. He would have to see it with his own eyes before it fully sank in.

“I couldn’t live like that…and neither could Tony.”

Natasha didn’t respond. When she hit a red light, she took a moment to shut her eyes and breathe deeply.

“So what are you saying?” she began slowly. “Are you, saying we should put Stark down?”

Rhodes refused to answer or even look at her. It was a question that he’d been grappling with at the back of his mind ever since Bruce brought it up.

“SHIELD is for it,” he said coldly. 

“But are you for it?” she pressed.

“Are you?”

They looked at each other. Both could see the fear behind the other’s eyes clearly.

“I’m for what Stark wants,” she decided in the end.

“If he’s as bad off as the hybrids in the lab, he’s incapable of telling us what he wants. He’s something that’s neither human nor animal living in pain.”

Natasha slowed the car down as they neared Madson’s address. The house came into view, as did a white van that claimed to be part of some plumbing company.

“What’s this?” Rhodes muttered as Natasha stopped out of sight.

They watched as their target moved around the van and got into the passenger’s seat. Afterwards the engine started up.

“Looks like we made it just in time,” Natasha commented. “Mr. Madson’s making a break for it.”

“Yeah, and I bet anything Tony’s in the back of that van.” His fists began to tremble. “Get closer. I’ll stop him.”

“Wait. I think it’s better to follow. There might be other things we can learn.”

It was hard, but Rhodes gave a nod of agreement. 

“Don’t worry buddy,” he said under his breath, “I’m coming for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming down to the wire now! :)


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pursuing team catches up to Robert, and Tony

Robert wriggled his hands nervously as he focused on trying to keep track of where the guard was taking him. In truth he wasn’t keeping track of it very well since he couldn’t focus. All he could do was fidget and worry.

“Try to relax man,” the guard said. He was clearly annoyed by his behavior.

“How the hell can I relax?” he argued. “I’m leaving my life behind. And Tony…I trust Gina knows what she’s doing, but still, what if…what if goes wrong somehow?”

“The only way it’s going to go wrong is if we’re found out and no one has.” He checked the side mirror for good measure. 

Robert dropped his gaze to his shaky hands, then he turned and looked into the back of the van. Tony was pacing nervously in the cage and uttering low growls. Robert hated seeing him in such distress.

“Can’t you go a little faster? The less time Tony has to spend in that cage, the better.”

The guard shot him a glare. 

“You want us pulled over for speeding now? Just relax. You’re pussycat’ll be fine.”

Robert sighed and turned back to his friend.

“It’s alright Tony. We’re going to be safe soon, and you’ll never have to be in that stuffy cage again.”

Tony paused and looked at him. His nose twitched and his tail waved curiously. Robert leaned back in his seat then and glared at the guard. He didn’t understand his pet at all. 

 

The van continued traveling for a good while, with Natasha still pursuing at a careful distance. 

“Where the hell is he taking us?” Rhodes questioned.

“Someplace out of the way,” Natasha replied as they moved further away from any major streets and noticeable buildings. “Makes it a lot harder for us if he takes notice.”

Rhodes made a fist. He’d had to deal with some very concerning matters before, but whenever it involved Tony, it was a strike to his poor heart. 

 

Eventually the van pulled up in an abandoned lot. Waiting there was a dark blue SUV. Standing next to it was Gina, who was accompanied by a two fairly large men. Neither were dressed as Whitmore’s uniformed guards, but Robert assumed they had to be guards and were simply dressed the part of civilians to avoid suspicion. 

As soon as Robert’s driver came to a stop, he jumped out and immediately headed for the back of the van.

“Get him out of there, now!” Robert demanded. 

The guard rolled his eyes and muttered something about overreacting pet owners before following the command. 

“Mr. Madson,” Gina greeted. She and her guards moved toward him. 

Robert gave a polite nod.

“Gina. I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing.” He looked at the SUV. “I take it that’s our ride to our final destination?”

“It is,” she answered with a look at the vehicle. 

“And where is this final destination?”

Gina lowered her eyes and appeared just a little uncomfortable.

“Well, my desire was to send you to one of Whitmore’s safe houses out of the country, and it still is. The problem is that the person that was going to help me do that got cold feet and has, disappeared. I’m assuming he either ran or was apprehended. So the best I can do for now is have you sent to my second home.”

“Your second home?”

Gina smiled and nodded.

“Whitmore set it up for me in case I was able to afford a hybrid of my own. It’s a small place, but a safe one out of the eyes of neighbors. I wanted to make sure you’re okay with that before we make that journey.” 

A loud hiss stole their attention, and they turned to see the guard rolling Tony in his cage toward them. Robert bent down and dared drop his fingers between the holes to make contact with his pet’s head.

“It’s okay Tony, it’s okay. We just have a little bit of a ways to go, and then you’ll be fully safe.”

Gina moved closer and watched as Tony settled and took comfort in the small touch he was given.

“God he’s so beautiful. He’s really adjusted with you well hasn’t he?”

“He has,” said Robert happily. Relief was starting to set into him.

“I admit, I had wanted him myself when I first saw him. Now with him staying at my place for a bit…well, I can kind of pretend that I do have him.”

Robert straightened up and narrowed his eyes a little.

“This place of yours, does it at least have a proper set up for an ocelot?”

“I’m afraid not. It’s basically a little prison. No trees or toys since I hadn’t planned for a hybrid. But it’s just temporary.” She gestured to the SUV. “Shall we load him up? I’m afraid for his safety, he’ll have to be tranquillized.”

Before Robert could argue against it, several cars hurried up to the scene.

“Crap!” Gina cried. “You were followed!”

The guards at her side pulled out hidden guns behind their backs just as Natasha and a couple of SHIELD agents pulled their weapons out, ready to fire.

“Put the guns down and raise your hands!” Rhodes ordered. “Nobody has to get hurt here!”

Gina raised a hand and looked at her trigger happy guards.

“Don’t be idiots. Put them down. Do as they say!”

“What the hell you have us for?” the guard hissed without taking his eyes off of his target, Natasha.

“Not for this! We’re outnumbered.” She glared as Steve and Clint exited from the cars in the back. “It’s over.”

Stricken, Robert slowly moved to stand before Tony’s cage in an attempt to hide him, though it was clearly too late.

“Step aside Mr. Madson!” Rhodes ordered. His gun stayed drawn as he and Natasha walked toward the surrendering group.

“Please,” Robert begged as he raised his hands, “No one has to get hurt, especially not my pet!”

“He’s not your pet goddamn it, now step aside!” When Robert didn’t move, Rhodes cocked the gun. “Don’t make me shoot you.”

With a heavy swallow, Robert side-stepped and revealed the one sight Rhodes hoped he wouldn’t have to see. 

Tony stopped pacing and twitched his ears as he took notice of the new arrivals. His ears flattened as he noticed the guns pointed toward him, not realizing they were pointed at the people behind him. His tail swayed madly as he gave his loudest hiss. 

Rhodes took a few shaky steps forward with his arms falling to his sides. When he did so, Tony took notice of him and locked onto his eyes. Rhodes stopped moving, just as Tony became completely still.

“Oh…god,” Rhodes moaned. 

His eyes were starting to well up as he stared into the face of a wild cat that had the obvious resemblance to Tony Stark. It was definitely his best friend considering the familiar hair and goatee that still remained on the hybrid. But it was still too much for him to take in. Rhodes sank to his knees as despair fully hit him. Tony simply stared at him, sensing something familiar about the man, yet at the same time he was quite confused.

_‘Who…who are you?’_

“Tony…no,” Rhodes cried, “Nooooo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last a member of the team sees what's become of Tony.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Truths are revealed, as are choices

Nobody seemed to be breathing, and it seemed like a while before anybody moved. The ones who did make the first move were the SHIELD agents who walked over to apprehend the guards. Natasha stepped forward with her gun trained on Gina, but then her eyes fell to the ocelot. She found herself standing next to Rhodes who was frozen in place on the ground. Tears were threatening to stream down his cheeks.

“Jesus,” came Steve’s voice as he and Clint joined their broken comrade. 

And now Tony was at last reunited with his team, yet he didn’t seem to realize it. He shifted his eyes from Rhodes to Natasha, then Steve, and finally Clint. He peeled his lips back and flattened his ears as a hiss rumbled up his throat.

_‘Can’t…can’t…humans…familiar? No’_

His poor mind was whirling. Something was trying to press through the fog, but it was only increasing his agitation. 

_‘Who…who are, humans?’_

Robert was frozen by the scene as well. Without thinking, he took a step back. It was just the thing to trigger Rhodes to his feet and pull his gun.

“DON’T MOVE!” he yelled. “DON’T YOU MOVE YOU GODDAMN BASTARD!”

“Don’t! Don’t shoot, please!” Robert cried as he waved his hands to remind him he was surrendering. “I never hurt him! I would never hurt my pet.”

“He is not your pet!” Natasha cried. 

“He’s not human,” Robert declared. He looked down at the hissing creature. “Not anymore. This is his life now.”

“You sick bastard!” Natasha hissed.

Rhodes stormed up to Robert and delivered a strong punch to his cheek. He only wished he’d been in his suit so it would hurt that much more. Robert stumbled back, but when he delivered another punch, he landed on the ground. Tony turned around and hissed loudly while clawing at the bars of the cage. He was eager to escape to defend his owner.

“Stop it!” Gina cried. She would have run over to defend the assault on Robert if it weren’t for the agent holding her back. “He didn’t do anything wrong! If you want to blame someone for trying to escape, blame me!”

Rhodes turned his glare on her.

“Did you do it!” he demanded. “Did you do that shit to Tony?!”

“I…”

“I know Whitmore was behind this, but he had help. Was it you?”

Gina shrunk back against the agent that held her.

“It was…Tony,” came Robert’s voice.

Everyone looked to him as he slowly got to his feet and wiped a hand across his bleeding lip. 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Tony, and all the other hybrids. They volunteered for this life. Tony...he needed an escape from his taxing life, maybe even from you people.”

Robert was now the one glaring back at Rhodes, but it failed to irk the man. Instead he looked baffled.

“No person, would willingly volunteer for this!” Steve shouted.

“He’s right,” said Rhodes. He walked right up to Robert who flinched. “I’ve taken a good look at the hybrids in our custody. They’re suffering. Their minds are caught in a painful mix of human and animal. They can’t ever go back to being what they were. They’re feral, mindless creatures with no connection to being human! Why the hell would anyone volunteer to live like that! To live as someone’s pet!”

He grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Tony became all the more wild at the treatment of his owner.

_‘Bastard! No…NO!’_

“They don’t want their old life,” Robert tried. “We give them better lives. One without the stresses and problems of society. Tony retired to this life, and I did everything to make him happy. To see that he was well cared for with only the best.”

“TONY WAS KIDNAPPED! He was investigating that son of a bitch Whitmore, and he did that to Tony to silence him!” Rhodes raged as he pointed back at Tony. “Tony wasn’t a goddamn volunteer! None of them were! I don’t know if you’re just trying to cover your ass or if you’re stupid enough to believe that shit, but that’s the truth!”

Robert studied Rhodes's eyes and not only saw the hurt, but the seriousness of them. He wanted to believe they were just angry that Tony chose to leave them, but now doubt was setting in. 

He shifted his gaze to Tony who was biting at the cage, desiring to get to him. A nasty ache struck his heart as he stared at his pet. He wondered how possible it was that Tony didn’t volunteer. When he thought about it, he supposed he wouldn’t be surprised at the lengths Whitmore would go to in order to make his hybrids. In truth he’d never concerned himself with it. It was easier to turn a blind eye, and it was definitely safer considering the power the man had. All in all, Robert had just come to love Tony, and he couldn’t imagine giving him up even now.

Robert faced Rhodes again and slowly shook his head. The tears were starting to flow from his eyes.

“He never suffered under me. It was hard for him in the beginning to adjust, but he did. He became happy.” Rhodes let him go and turned his back on him, but Robert continued to speak. “The hybrids won’t suffer if you take good care of them. They aren’t in pain.”

“Bullshit!” Clint argued.

“What have you done with them?” Gina snapped. “The hybrids you took from Whitmore.”

Rhodes tensed but couldn’t answer.

“Most were put down,” Natasha replied. A look of horror and disgust crossed Gina’s features, while Robert looked quite alarmed. 

He risked getting shot as he ran over to Tony’s cage.

“Get the hell away from him!” Rhodes shouted. Just before he made to pull him away, he stopped himself and gawked as Tony settled down with Robert leaning against the cage.

“It’s okay Tony,” Robert muttered. “You’re okay. No matter what happens to me, I won’t let them kill you too.”

“You can’t kill him!” Gina cried. “You can’t be that cruel.”

“It’s cruel keeping them as they are,” a SHEILD agent piped up. “Putting them down is the kinder thing to do after what you’ve done to them.”

“No, no!” Robert cried. “It’s not. Don’t put them down! Don’t put Tony down! Please!”

Rhodes looked at Tony as the debate entered his head once again. He did not want Tony to have to live that way, but as he watched he could tell that his feral side had toned down, simply with Robert being next to him. It made him wonder how possible it was for them to remain alive if they couldn’t be fixed.

But then he thought of the moments he’d shared with Tony and how they were gone now. His best bud was now just an animal. Angered, he stormed over and pulled Robert away. Tony threw himself against the cage again.

“Enough of this! We’re taking you in,” he growled. “Tony isn’t yours. Not anymore.”

Robert’s face crumbled, and his heart sank. The one thing he didn’t want to happen, was happening.

“N-nnoo…no.”

The hairs on the back of Rhode’s neck raised as the garbled mix of Tony’s voice mixed with the cat’s entered his ears. He slowly turned around and saw Tony staring right at him, eyes locked onto his.

“No,” the ocelot forced himself to say. “Friend…no…”

“Oh my god,” Natasha gasped.

Mouths were dropped and eyes widened all around. 

“Tony?” said Rhodes shakily. “Are you, still in there?”

He released Robert and dropped to his knees before the cage. Tony shut his eyes and concentrated hard on trying to speak.

“Don’t…hurt, friend.”

Rhodes noticed Tony’s eyes had shifted to Robert’s with the last line, which made it apparent that he was referring to Robert as a friend.

“No, Tony. Don’t you remember me?” Tony simply stared at him. There seemed to be a slight frown in his face. “Please.”

The ocelot had had enough of this. The torment on his owner and the confusion these strangers brought. And what made it worse was not understanding the situation or why the strangers felt familiar. There was something important about this moment. He could feel it deep down. Somehow he knew these people were what he wanted all along, but he couldn’t remember why.

He’d escaped once, trying to find some life he didn’t recall properly, but after all this time it had changed. And now, it was coming back, but it felt so foreign. 

Tony started pacing and twitching his tail as he tried to follow the human’s command. Faded images of him surfaced, but nothing more. Again he struggled to speak.

“Who?...Human…who?” He became still and wracked his brain as he bowed his head. The faded image was becoming clearer. Soon it wasn’t just the man before him that he saw. “Aven…avengers?”

Rhodes gasped with joy and nodded encouragement.

“Aven…” Tony continued. He slowly locked onto Rhode’s eyes. “Rha….Rhodes?”

“That’s it Tony…that’s it!”

Tony made to stay on that line of thought, but a minute later it was gone. The lips curled back and he gave a snarl while throwing himself at the cage. Rhodes fell back and watched the feral creature go nuts.

“Stop it! You’re upsetting him!” Robert howled. He pulled against Steve who had taken the opportunity to hold him back.

The team watched Tony, hearts sinking with the realization that Tony was lost in a cat’s body, unable to properly remember them. Rhodes shut his eyes. He didn’t want to believe it.

“Please,” cried Gina. “There’s a way to spare Tony. You don’t have to kill him.”

“Tony…my best friend. You people took him from me. He’s gone,” Rhodes said quietly. Then his eyes flashed as he turned to Gina. “The only way we can save him, is if you reverse this!” 

Gina dropped her eyes then and shook her head.

“There isn't a reversal. They are what they are now. Beautiful creatures.”

“There's nothing beautiful about this,” Natasha countered.

Rhodes balled his fists and tried not to feel disappointed all over again. He stared at her, wondering if it was true, but then he remembered how certain Bruce had been when he'd failed to undo it to the others.

“Then my friend is gone. You destroyed him!” 

“No!” Robert argued. “Please. Tony can have a life. Gina can make it so. If…if you really want to take Tony from me, I can’t stop you there, but at least let her help. Tony’s not gone! He can still be a part of your life, as long as you let him live!”

It was a difficult thing for Robert to say since he did not want to part from Tony, but if it meant Tony’s survival, he would make the hard sacrifice. Still, he fought to keep his little buddy.

“You guys don’t have the experience or the time for caring for him as he is,” Robert pressed. “I do. I can take care of him, so I implore you to let me. Let me care for your friend, and I promise he’ll have a good and happy life.”

Rhodes stared at the raging ocelot hybrid. A decision had to be made, and he wasn’t sure which way to turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Which choice will be made for Tony? Find out in the last chapter  
> As always, keep tags in mind.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter

Rhodes walked down the hall of the tower, shoulders tense as he moved and sipped from his cup of coffee. Right away he saw Clint sitting in the living room watching tv. 

“Anything good on this morning?” Rhodes asked as he walked up behind him to watch as well. The channel was set on the news.

Clint smirked.

“I always considered this topic good news.”

He smirked as it showed footage of reporters trying to question a small group of men who were refusing to engage with them. The men had been strong investors of Whitmore’s, and ever since the world heard about his horrendous activities, those closest to him had tried to disassociate anyway that they could.

Of course the world didn’t know the exact details of everything. Under SHIELD’s orders, no one was to know about the hybrids. Considering the failure to reverse their lives and pinpoint identities, it was believed to be in their best interest to keep them safe by keeping quiet. Although at times, when it got too quiet around the tower, the team would discuss the ethics of the choice. Still, they were quite pleased that the world knew that Tony Stark hadn’t been paranoid when he’d ranted about his rival. They knew who to blame for the world losing Tony Stark. Wendell Whitmore’s name was tarnished, and Tony was the hero in the end for seeing what they couldn’t.

Rhodes pondered it at times and hated himself for also not seeing it. The others felt the same. 

“Where’s cap and Banner?”

“Cap’s wrapping up a shower, and Bruce…” His face fell, expressing unease. “In the lab.”

Rhodes nodded, understanding. 

“It’s going to take some time for Bruce,” he declared. “I just, appreciate that he keeps trying.” 

“If it drives him crazy…it’s not good,” Clint said.

“We’ll see,” Rhodes replied. He glanced at his watch. “I hope Steve wraps it up soon. I want to get going.”

The front door opened, catching Rhodes’s attention. He smiled as Pepper entered.

“Oh, you guys haven’t left yet?” 

“As soon as Steve brings his clean ass out the shower,” said Clint.

“What about you Pep?” Rhodes asked. “You want to come with?”

The smile she had for him fell just a little.

“Actually, I found time yesterday.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I don’t get much time nowadays with running the company.”

“I understand.”

Steve walked into the room then and nodded when he saw Pepper.

“You guys ready?” he asked.

“Yeah. Just let me pry Bruce from the lab,” said Clint.

 

The drive there was long, but Rhodes always appreciated it because it gave him time to clear his head. He glanced at Clint and Bruce in the backseats through the rearview mirror. Then he looked over at Steve. No one was saying anything as they were too absorbed in their thoughts.

“Mind if I…”Rhodes began as he hit play on the radio. A Black Sabbath song started to play. Rhodes found he was comforted by it.

“You know, we should start bringing something when we visit,” Steve piped up.

“We’ll have to clear it with them first,” said Rhodes. “Or maybe, I’ll just do some research. But I’m all for it.”

A few sad smiles were passed around.

 

Rhodes pulled up to a large intimidating gate where a few guards stood watch. He stopped before the window and flashed his I.D at the attendant. 

“Rhodes, how are you?” he asked.

“As good as you’d expect.”

He nodded in understanding and opened the gate. Once it parted, Rhodes headed down a paved road toward a large, gray, unmarked facility which was property of SHIELD and well-funded thanks to Stark, as well as Whitmore thanks to a few strings being pulled.

Rhodes parked the car and issued a heavy sigh. It was never easy coming here. The front door of the building opened as a woman exited, smiling.

“I saw your latest fight on tv. Looked rough.”

“I’ve handled tougher,” Rhodes said in a way that came across as bragging. “You know, we really miss you Maria.”

The agent simply shrugged.

“You guys can come see me anytime. And I haven’t exactly parted from SHIELD. This is just my new base.”

“And we appreciate what you’re doing ma’am,” Steve complimented.

Rhodes gave a nod of appreciation as well before they followed her inside.

On the other side, past the rigid face of the building, there were many enclosures that exhibited specific scenes of nature according to the hybrid within. The team saw centaurs sitting under the shade of trees or galloping across the field. An enclosure depicting a beautiful cave was perfect for a bear hybrid who gave a little growl at the passing team before sticking his snout in a river to quench his thirst. There was an enormous pool that was spacious enough for the women who had become mermaid like hybrids. One even made a huge splash, which drenched Clint.

“Come on now,” Clint complained as he jumped away.

Maria laughed.

“They’re pretty playful remember.”

Rhodes let his eyes wander to an area where a golden retriever hybrid was digging up a storm. His tail was wagging happily. It was still hard for him to believe that the hybrids, for the most part, were able to find some kind of happiness in their current state. 

“This hasn’t been too overwhelming for you has it?” Bruce asked.

“Well it’s not like I’m the only one here,” Maria replied. “I’m just glad the files from Gina helped give us a short cut to caring for them.”

“Right,” Rhodes said bitterly as he thought of the woman who was now behind bars.

“And speaking of Gina, what’s the word on Robert?”

“Don’t know,” said Clint with a shrug. “I hear his lawyer is fighting to get him on probation.”

“We’ll see,” said Rhodes in a tone that told them it was better to change the subject.

The team rounded a corner of bars and at last came to the one enclosure they had come for. It was much like the piece of jungle Robert had created within his house, but it was now expanded with several trees and a much larger cave. Right away, they noticed the ocelot hybrid lazing about on the top branch of a tree nearest the front. Rhodes stopped right at the bars and forced a smile as he looked up at his old friend.

“Hey Tony,” he greeted.

The ocelot twitched an ear and quickly climbed down from the tree. He happily padded over to his visitors and made his head available for petting. Rhodes was still unused to granting Tony the pleasure of rubbing his head, but his happiness was what he cared for.

“He’s in a good mood today,” Clint noted as he joined Rhodes in petting him.

“Yeah,” Maria agreed. “He was pretty pissed off the last time you guys came. In fact he was pissed off yesterday.”

“So he’s still not entirely happy,” Bruce commented. He was observing Tony closely as if trying to solve a puzzle. With every visit, his mind would automatically work to continue to try and find a fix.

“He has his moments of wildness, but for the most part, I am doing my best to keep him happy. I think part of the problem is he misses Robert.” Rhodes stiffened at her comment. “On the other hand, he is part ocelot.”

Such words confirmed to Rhodes the ongoing problem of combining the human and animal minds, yet he needed his friend.

“We miss you every day Tony,” Steve chimed in. “We had a pretty tough fight a few days ago. It’s still an ongoing investigation. Natasha would be here if she could but, she’s off continuing that mission.”

Tony looked at the faces speaking to him and made noises of comfort. These humans were still somewhat foreign to him, yet he’d come to accept them just as he’d accepted Robert. He was always happy to see them, but he couldn’t understand why they never seemed fully happy to see him.

_’Sad…why so…sad?’_

“We really do miss you bud,” said Rhodes as his eyes welled up. “But we’ll always come see you. You’ll always be one of us.”

Tony settled down and basked in the attention as his tail flapped lazily. He let their voices roll through him as they began talking about their day and their recent mission. Tony didn’t understand it of course, but something deep inside him appreciated the conversation. Something in him appreciated being a part of these humans’ lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Complete!   
> As I've mentioned in the beginning, this was a prompt fill for someone who wanted a Dark Tony transformation fic with a bonus for making the transformation irreversible. I definitely wanted to maintain the darkness of the fic, hence the tags 'Tragic Tony Aftermath' 'No real happy ending' 'Horror story'. The horror, dark aspect was definitely intriguing to me.   
> Thanks to those that have stuck with this. I'm glad I was able to complete the OP's prompt at last.

**Author's Note:**

> Tony's in for a rough time. Very rough...so keep the tags in mind.


End file.
